


I See Fire

by BooksVCigarettes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-09-29 23:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17213264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksVCigarettes/pseuds/BooksVCigarettes
Summary: Secrets never stay buried for long. The world is on fire and one way or another, Juliet Spencer knows that she will burn with it. Playlist coming soon!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The song used in this chapter is Tom Waits' 'November'.

**November 1st 1981**

_1st November_

_No shadow_

_No stars_

_No moon_

_No care_

_November_

_It only believes_

_In a pile of dead leaves_

_And a moon_

_That's the color of bone_

All Saints Day had arrived and the news, the sad sorry fact, still hung in the air around them. She felt as though she was breathing in the grief, her lungs filling up, saturated with the heavy substance on each inhalation. Lily and James were gone and there was nothing that anyone could do to bring them back. Their bodies, still warm, had been brought to her department as soon as the Ministry Aurors had released them. These were not the first bodies to have been delivered into her care; not even the first bodies bearing the marks of the killing curse. But they were the first bodies that she had known in their living forms. The first bodies whose faces she'd looked into and smiled, whose arms had slung themselves affectionately around her shoulders, whose hands had taken the hand of her own child's.

_November has tied me_

_To an old dead tree_

_Get word to April_

_To rescue me_

_November's cold chain_

And so now, she stood in the tiny room that served as the breakroom, stockroom and office that she shared with Angus and Merryweather, waiting for them to come and tell her that it was time to perform the last offices before they could begin the post-mortem examinations. Any death that occurred beyond the boundaries of St Mungo's automatically required a post-mortem, and as the healers on duty it fell to them to escort the Potters' earthly vessels through the final sad ritual with as much grace and dignity as possible. The post-mortem charms would extract residual memories and secrets from the bodies, things hidden deep inside that could be extracted by grave robbers and sold on the black market or used to blackmail remaining relatives. 

Or in this case, those wanting to find out what had happened to Lord Voldemort after he had disappeared from Godric's Hollow on Halloween night. 

She shivered as the memories of just minutes before resurfaced when Millicent Bagnold, having accompanied the Potter's bodies to the St Mungo's mortuary, had stood in this very office - looking no less severe despite still being in her nightclothes - and relayed to the them all that early intelligence suggested that the baby boy had not only survived the killing curse, but had somehow managed to return it in the direction of the Dark Lord. The Minister for Magic had been solemn in relating this; all too aware that regardless of the news of Voldemort's apparent defeat, two young people lay dead out in the mortuary. Hopefully the final two in what had seemed like an endless parade of righteous soldiers in the war against darkness, but nevertheless two people who had not deserved to die and leave behind a child who would undoubtedly never know a day when he did not feel the great ripples of their loss throughout his life.

 

She reached up a hand and touched her cheek where only a few hours before, her husband's calloused fingers had caressed the soft skin there. He had arrived in the wee hours, before the bodies. He was exhausted; pale with the hollow sadness that death leaves in its wake. They had both cried when he told her that the Potters had been betrayed, that it was over - that only the baby boy remained. 

Poor little Harry. She felt her eyes begin to fill once more as she thought of the scruffy haired infant with emerald eyes. He would be placed in the care of his mother’s muggle sister and her husband; on this decision, the minister had been unmoveable despite their ardent pleas to let them look after him, to raise him as their own, a younger brother for their daughter who already loved him as such. No, the minister had shaken her head grimly, it would not be safe for him to grow up in this world. You would not be able to keep him safe. Her husband had argued the toss long after she had become resigned to it’s fruitlessness, a near wild look in his eyes that frightened her a little. The minister was gentle but steadfast in her refusal, and when she eventually bade them a sympathetic farewell before turning on her heel to apparate, it was clear that her decision had not been an easy one. 

He had wanted to stay to see the bodies a final time, but she had been firm, whispering against his ear that it would not lessen his grief to weep over the empty shells that no longer housed their souls. Remember who they were, she had murmured softly, holding him close. You don't need to see them like this.

_Made of wet boots and rain_

_And shiny black ravens_

_On chimney smoke lanes_

_November seems odd_

_You're my firing squad_

_November_

He had come back for one more kiss on his way out, as had always been his way. One more for the road, was his little saying. One more to keep me going until I see you again. He had lingered against her lips, the salt of their tears mingling with their kisses and whispered I love yous. He had stalled once more at the door, his fingers curled around the aged frame. He seemed to be searching for words, trying to remember some small thing he'd meant to tell her before but by now she was so familiar with his little idiosyncrasies that she mouthed them along with him. Give the little one a kiss for me. Tell her Daddy will be home soon.

The little one. She cast a glance at her watch. Probably still sleeping, limbs splayed out like a starfish, hair messier than if she had been out in a gale. She was tiny, and yet her character, the very essence of her existence, took up every available bit of space and she was wholly unapologetic about it. Something she had in common with her father.

A small knock at the door drew her from her thoughts and she opened it to find Merryweather, a sympathetic look on his kindly face "Angus and I were discussing it and if you… don't feel up to this, I'm sure we can-"

"-I'll be fine." She cut him off, reaching out to give his arm a squeeze "But thank you. I'll be along in a moment." Merryweather nodded, although it was clear that he was unconvinced. 

Alone again, she turned to the ancient mirror that some thoughtful soul had placed on the wall at some point in the last millenia and tried with very little success to arrange her features into some semblance of calm.

"I know it's hard, dear." The mirror said sympathetically "You've had a frightful night."

_No shadows_

_No stars_

_No moon_

_No care_

Sighing, she turned away from the mirror and straightened her robes. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to go to the place in her head ruled by logic and science and all of the deep and ancient magic that accompanied her discipline. She felt her breathing even out and her shoulders square themselves, ready for the burdens that would be placed upon them. Just a few short hours and she would be home once again, her little one in her arms and her husband by her side. She knew that they would feel the loss of Lily and James Potter for many years to come, but as she walked out of the office and shrugged into a work robe, a small guilty voice at the back of her mind rejoiced that it had not been her own love that had been taken from her, that it wasn't his broken body laying on a cold slab in the mortuary, awaiting his final ritual.

At the time, she had thought of it as nothing more than a grateful prayer to whatever Goddess was listening that he had not been killed, that he would be allowed to watch their child grow into the fierce and headstrong beauty she was destined to become. That she would be spared the torture of grieving for him, and together they could grow old in a world that was safe and free from tyrants like Lord Voldemort.

 

Years later, whenever she watched her daughter at play, or when the first signs of her magical lineage began to show, that false sense of relief still haunted her.

Because little had she known, as she had joined Angus and Merryweather in the post-mortem suite, that in just a few short hours more grey-faced Aurors would come to rob her of such delusions.

_November_

_It only believes_

_In a pile of dead leaves_

_And a moon_

_That's the color of bone_


	2. Chapter Two

**October 8th 1995**

"Come on, Jules! I'm not missing breakfast again this week…"

"Alright, would you hold on a second? My robes are caugh-"

An almighty crash.

"... Was that a crystal ball?"

A moment's horror-filled pause.

"Don't say it."

"Do you think Trelawney predicted that?"

"I said _don't_ say it."

The sound of high pitched maniacal giggling coming ever-closer. A shared wide-eyed stare.

"Is that Peeves?"

"Run."

The frantic patter of light feet descending many stairs accompanied by breathless laughter and friendly jostling. Moira fixed her friend with a glare as they bolted from the scene of their crime.

"Now we have to find a new place to practice. Honestly Jules, I swear you could trip over your own shadow."

"My shadow is a tricky little bastard. It likes to see me fall to its level."

Moira cocked an eyebrow at her friend as they jogged along the corridor, their robes billowing out behind them.

“That's a pretty impressive level of narcissism, even for you."

Jules smiled winningly "Thank you."

"Not a compliment."

"Not a sincere admission of gratitude. OI!" Jules ducked as a screwed-up ball of parchment came flying at her head as she and Moira hurried into the Great Hall "Watch where you're throwing your rejection letters from the Quibbler's topless male page, Jordan!" she glared at the tall boy who poked his tongue out at her while his friends tried to hide their sniggers.

"Why don't you watch where you're standing, Spencer?"

Jules smiled primly and struck a coquettish pose, her hands on her hips "Why should I, when everybody else already does?"

"There's that narcissism again…" muttered Moira as she gave Jules's arm a squeeze before disappearing off to the Slytherin table. Jules waved her friend off before settling herself down at the Gryffindor table, blithely ignoring the not-so-subtle way that her fellow housemates shifted away from her to continue their conversations. This was not an unusual occurrence and one that she had deliberately neglected to acknowledge since she had become friendly with Moira in their first year. She pulled out her unfinished Muggle Studies essay and cast a quick charm under her breath so that her tea would begin to stir itself as she tried to formulate a closing paragraph in her head. This was only the second essay they had been set for the year but by far the most difficult they had ever done – even for a half-blood like herself. Jules wasn't even sure that she had answered the question properly. She needed to bounce ideas off someone, but who? She cast an eye around the Gryffindor table, her gaze eventually falling on Hermione Granger, currently chatting amiably with the youngest Weasley sibling. She didn't know Hermione all that well but the fifth year took the class with her, having been accelerated on the course by two years because she was so advanced. Jules sighed. Logically, Hermione would be the best person to ask.

That being said, Jules didn't have the best relationship with any of her housemates, who (when they weren't ignoring her altogether) preferred to treat her with suspicious contempt because of her friendship with Moira. Jules had run out of tosses to give about this relatively early on in her school career, but had decided not to treat her fellow Gryffindors badly simply because they were incapable of having mature adult friendships. Her encounter with Lee Jordan that morning was about as spiteful as she got.

Seeing the clock edging ever closer to lesson time and deciding she had nothing to lose, Jules waved at Hermione to get her attention. The fifth year blanched slightly, but offered her a wary smile.

"Can I ask you something?" Jules mouthed across the table. Hermione nodded and Jules shuffled down the bench, holding her essay aloft to stop it from dragging through the food. She ignored the vaguely uncomfortable looks on both Hermione and Ginny's faces and launched straight into her query "This essay for Muggle Studies is messing with my mind. Can I get your opinion?"

Hermione reached out for the essay with a frown "I thought you were a muggleborn?"

Jules shook her head "My dad was a muggle, but we had barely any muggle kitchen appliances so I'm lost."

As Hermione perused her essay, Jules went to pull her textbook from her bag and as she did, it caught on something she would normally have carefully concealed in a side pocket but in her haste to leave Trelawney's classroom had simply shoved it in. Jules's breath caught in her throat as her most prized possession clattered across the table and she surged forward to pick it up, her grasp narrowly missing the Walkman as Fred Weasley swooped in and picked it up. 

“What's this then, Spencer?"

Jules slammed a hand down on top of Fred's "Keep your voice down!" she hissed, but it was already too late. The attentions of Lee Jordan and Fred's twin brother George, who had been charming bits of toast to hover around the heads of first years, had now been caught and they turned to the exchange between Fred and Jules.

Jules gave Fred a look that was equal parts hateful and imploring "Give it back."

The redhead raised an eyebrow "Not until you tell me what it is."

"Why do you even care?"

He shrugged and smirked at her "I have an inquisitive mind."

"Seems like a fair trade, Spencer." Lee remarked, grinning obnoxiously across the table at her. Jules sighed. 

"If I tell you, will you swear you won't tell any of the teachers that I have it?"

"That depends," Fred said evenly, his eyes never leaving hers "Would you do the same for us?"

Jules felt something spark within her and she looked at him coldly "I'm going to pretend that you're referring to the chance that one day you'll need me to cover your arse when one of your stupid pranks go wrong and not making an ill-informed comment about my loyalties and where they lie."

"Tell yourself whatever you need to, love." They stared at one another for a moment, eyes blazing. Fred made no move to take his hand away from underneath hers and Jules resisted the urge to dig her nails into his skin. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Umbridge making her way down from the teacher's table. If a teacher caught her with this, she was dead.

"It's a music player." She said through gritted teeth "Now give it back."

Fred raised an eyebrow "Nice try. Muggle devices don't work at Hogwarts."

Jules mumbled something incoherent and all three boys leaned in closer "What was that, Spencer?" Lee was practically bouncing in his chair with glee at her discomfort.

"I found a hacker who charmed it illegally for me." She said in a low voice "It feeds off residual magical energy to keep the battery charged and stops it from malfunctioning."

The boys stared at her for a moment. It was George who broke the silence first "That's pretty badass, Spencer."

"Whatever. Now give it back-" Jules yanked on Fred's wrist at the same time as he let go of the Walkman and once again it flew from both of their grasps, scattering to the floor at the feet of none other than Professor Umbridge. The tiny pink-clad toad who refused to let them do spells in class stooped to pick up the Walkman, holding it between her thumb and forefinger as though it were a filthy sock.

“To whom does this belong please?" Her voice was quiet and sickly sweet.

Jules felt sick. Muggle devices weren't prohibited at Hogwarts, but if Umbridge discovered that the Walkman had been hacked to stop it from malfunctioning with an illegal charm, she was dead meat. Umbridge hadn't said as much, but it had been clear from the off that she didn't favour muggleborns and halfbloods. 

Right now, she was staring down the Gryffindor table waiting for someone to own up and accept their punishment. She would wait all day if she had to. Jules opened her mouth to speak but Fred Weasley beat her to it.

"It's mine, Professor." Jules whipped around in her seat to stare at him open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Fred ignored her "My father collects muggle artefacts. I'm not sure what it does. I was showing it to my friends."

Umbridge gave him a smug smile "Detention for disorderly conduct, Mr Weasley. You could have had someone's eye out. Tonight, eight o'clock sharp." She waved the Walkman in his general direction "You can have this back if I feel you have sufficiently learnt your lesson."

As she walked away, Jules leaned over the table and muttered "What did you do that for? That wasn't necessary."

"You're welcome," Fred sneered sarcastically "Honestly woman, I was only trying to help! At least if I said it was my father's, she wouldn't think to question whether it worked or not would she?" Jules realised with a pang of annoyance that he was right.

"Thank you," she said grudgingly "but I'm quite capable of taking responsibility for myself."

Fred raised a sardonic eyebrow "I'll just go and tell Umbridge that it's yours then, shall I? Let you explain to her that you've had an illegal charm put on it so it works at school? I'm pretty sure you'll never get it back and you might even get expelled, but if that's the way you want to play it…" He made to get up from the table and follow the professor. Jules knew he was most likely bluffing but what could she do? He had the power. She reached up and grabbed his wrist.

“Please,” she said through gritted teeth “Please don't."

Fred shot a grin to Lee and George and Jules had to stop herself from kicking him under the table. He sat back down and leaned across the table toward her "Alright, you've twisted my arm. I'll do the detention to cover for you, Spencer. But you owe me."

"But – You! I didn't-" Jules exploded furiously. Fred just watched her, an amused gleam in his eye as she collected herself enough to speak in full sentences. Eventually she drew a deep breath "We've established that I'm grateful to you Weasley," She spoke in a low, slow and dangerous voice "But I never asked you to help me. In fact, if you hadn't been such a pompous arse and given me back my things when I asked you to, we wouldn't be in this mess. So you can do that detention and we'll call ourselves even."

X

Still furious with the confiscation of her favourite possession, Jules retrieved her essay from Hermione with a curt nod of thanks and stomped from the Great Hall toward the Muggle Studies classroom. She was largely angry at Fred Weasley and his stupid smug face and arrogant attitude but she was also angry at herself for not putting the Walkman away properly in her haste to leave Trelawney's room. Because of her carelessness, she was in danger of losing one of the items she valued most in the world. Stalking into Professor Burbage's classroom, she flung her essay sulkily at her favourite teacher and found her seat. Burbage set her concerned gaze on Jules. 

“Is everything alright, Miss Spencer?"

Jules attempted a weak smile "I'm fine thank you, Professor. Just glad to be rid of that essay."

The Professor offered her a kindly grin in return "Yes, it was rather a tricky one. Hopefully the next one will be more to your liking." She turned her attention to the tall student ambling through the door "Ah, Mr. Jordan. Better late than never. I was just about to begin discussing the new assignment."

X

"This is a nightmare." Lee slumped forward onto the table, his head in his hands "It's even harder than the kitchen appliance essay!"

"You didn't write the kitchen appliance essay," Jules admonished mildly, jotting down ideas on a piece of parchment "Besides, you love showing off. I thought this would be right up your street."

She had found Lee in the Gryffindor common room after class to discuss the new assignment from Burbage. Much to their mutual distaste, Burbage had paired them together to work. Both had attempted to protest – Jules had even offered to work alone – but Burbage's word had been final. Lee had disappeared after class before Jules had a chance to talk to him so she had decided to bide her time and approach him in the common room where she knew he would want to get rid of her quickly. That way, she thought, he would be more willing to accept her ideas just to see the back of her and then she would have some control over this thing. Jules grinned inwardly. Moira's Slytherin cunning must be rubbing off on her. She also wanted to be around when Fred Weasley came back from detention to retrieve her Walkman from him. He'd better not have done anything to stop Umbridge from letting him have it back.

"It's cruel and unusual punishment!" Lee moaned "I don't see how this has anything to do with muggle studies at all!"

Jules raised an eyebrow "You mean apart from the fact that we have to analyse and then perform a muggle song for the class?" She widened her eyes in mock horror "Good grief - you're right, Jordan! This is the furthest thing from muggle studies ever." She waved her parchment at him "Come on. The sooner we get started on this, the sooner it will be over. I already have a few ideas."

Lee huffed a final time but took the parchment from her anyway. He scanned down the list of songs, an appraising eyebrow raised. Stopping halfway down he glanced up at her. 

“You have ridiculous taste in music."

Jules raised an eyebrow in return, a weary look on her face as though she were tired of his idiocy "I prefer to think of myself as an eclectic."

"Call it whatever you like Spencer, but I have never seen Bon Jovi in such close proximity to Joni Mitchell in my entire life."

Jules stared at Lee in surprise "You know muggle music?"

Lee shrugged "My mum's a muggleborn. Her family's into music. This one." He jabbed a finger somewhere near the bottom of the list “Let’s sing this.”

Jules followed the line of his finger with her gaze and let out an astonished snort of laughter "Really?"

Lee threw his hands up in the air, frustrated "What's wrong with that one?"

Jules held up her own hands "Nothing! I just didn't think you would go for that one, is all. When do you want to practice?"

They were interrupted then by Fred Weasley crashing into the common room, George closely in tow. Jules balked a little when she saw Fred's face. Why was he so pale? He marched over to where Jules and Lee were sitting and slammed her Walkman down in front of her on the table with his right hand. His left, she noticed, he kept down at his side with the sleeve of his jumper pulled over his hand. She looked up at him. His mouth was set in a grim line. He looked like he was in pain.

“What happened?" She asked before she could stop herself. Behind him George shot her a warning look, but before he could answer, Fred beat him to it.

"Umbridge happened." He ground out through gritted teeth.

 

Lee got up to clap his friend on the shoulder "Bloody hell mate; you look like you've eaten an entire tub of puking pastilles." He paused to think about this "You didn't, did you?"

Fred continued to stare down at Jules, who couldn't tear her eyes away from the fury on his face. He looked ill, but incensed.

" _Don't_ let her catch you with that again." He jerked his head toward the Walkman to emphasise his point before stalking away toward the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories leaving Jules, Lee and George staring after him.

X

Jules lay in bed, turning the Walkman over and over and her hands. The dormitory was dark and quiet, her roommates sound asleep with their curtains pulled.

What had happened during Fred's detention with Umbridge to make him so angry? The woman was odious, there was no doubt about it - but surely she had to observe certain rules when it came to disciplining her charges? Jules felt a pang of guilt that she tried to ignore when she pictured Fred's pale face when he had come back into the common room that night. _You didn't make him tell Umbridge that the Walkman was his_ , she told herself fiercely, _and it's not your fault he got more than he bargained for in the detention with the nasty little Toad_.

Aside from the frosty reception she already received from everyone in her house, Jules had always had a particularly tense relationship with the Weasley twins and their crowd. Jules knew that they were friendly with Harry Potter, the Fifth Year whose name had been famous before he could even spell it. What's more, there was little love lost between Harry and most Slytherins that he had met. The twins protected Harry as fiercely as though he were another brother. It was probably one of their only redeeming qualities, in Jules’ eyes. It was a well known fact that Harry had nobody else in the world to look out for him - something he sorely needed, given how much trouble he managed to attract.

Jules shifted uncomfortably as she remembered watching in horror with the rest of the school mere months before when Harry had turned up in the centre of the Triwizard maze clutching the dead body of their classmate and telling anyone who would listen that Voldemort had returned. Jules and Moira had found each other in the chaos that followed and had clung together crying.

Well, Jules had cried. Moira had embraced her friend tightly, her mouth set in a thin line, the occasional tear spilling from her brimming eyes. Neither had known Cedric particularly well; it was more the shock and fear that Harry's announcement had inspired. In the years that Jules and Moira had been friends, the subject of whether Voldemort may return to power had been something to be avoided. Far from the conversation but clearly not from either of their minds, they had cordoned it off alongside such topics as how much easier both their daily lives would be if they stopped being friends.

But that day, when Professor Dumbledore announced to them that not only had Lord Voldemort returned to power, but that the Ministry of Magic had tried to stop him from telling them, a shadow had been cast - one that they could no longer hide from.

'The truth is generally preferable to lies.’ the headmaster had said and although hearing it had shaken Jules to her very core, she had to agree. The knowledge that their government would actively doctor the truth gave her a feeling of disquiet that she couldn't easily put to the back of her mind. Her father was a History Professor at a muggle university who specialised in Twentieth Century Conflicts. While other little girls had played with dolls and Wendy Houses, Jules had grown up learning about tanks and rationing and digging for victory and latterly, concentration camps and propaganda and governments trying to control the people they had pledged to serve. When she was ten, her father had dragged Jules and her mother to Dacchau in Poland one family holiday and pointed to the memorial. 

"You see, Juliet?" He had asked, and Jules had noted the near-desperate edge to his voice, almost as though he was pleading with her to see what he was trying to say "Do you see what happens when people decide to imagine that some are more valuable than others because of some random trait that cannot be helped?"

Later that same year, they had gotten the diagnosis: metastatic lung cancer. Her father, her dear and gentle father who was a bit older and more sensible than all her friends’ fathers but somehow surpassed all of them in Jules’s eyes, was dying. In a matter of weeks, he shrank into himself, needed help to get dressed and to eat. Jules stayed home from school and sat by the bed, holding his hand and asking him any and all of the questions she could think of, desperate for his opinion on everything. She had never before felt the cruel way that time can drain away like water down a plug hole. Her father had a way of positioning the world that made sense to her, and so to ask him a lifetime’s worth of questions in the space of a few weeks seemed like her only option. He listened patiently, propped up against his pillows, never rushing her, never treating her queries as asinine or boring. His answers, in comparison to her fraught questions were well thought out, sage and leisurely. 

He died the night before her eleventh birthday. Now, each year, the thud of her school letter hitting the table in front of her brought back visceral memories of sitting in the kitchen, eyes swollen shut from crying and a dull ache in her chest that would never completely go away. Jules had always known there was a chance that she would be a witch like her mother, but she couldn't help but remember her father's words as she had stood for the first time on Platform Nine and Three Quarters and wondered if that was what he had been trying to tell her. That magic or no magic, everyone deserved to be treated fairly and you couldn't rely on one piece of information about a person to act as a barometer for the rest of their personality.

Which was why she didn't care what anybody thought of her for having a Slytherin as a best friend. Moira was the first person she had met on the Hogwarts express – the tiny dark-haired beauty had been humming to herself and staring out of the window and Jules had immediately been drawn to the tuneful sound, asking if they could sit together. They had giggled uncontrollably when a chocolate frog got out of its packaging and wriggled up the trouser leg of an unsuspecting second year. When the Sorting Hat had placed them in different houses, Jules had been disappointed but had still sought Moira out in their first Potions lesson. 

Moira had stared at her wide-eyed as Jules had jumped onto the stool next to her "I didn't think you'd want to be friends with me anymore."

Jules had frowned at her "Why, are you really bad at potions or something?"

Moira didn't have time to answer before a tall pinched looking boy in Slytherin robes approached their bench 

“Slytherins don't associate with Gryffindors," He said, with the patronising air of someone who thought he was providing helpful advice to an imbecile "They're different. It's just not done."

Jules felt her face flush. Behind the boy, on the other side of the room, she could see her fellow Gryffindors nudging each other and whispering. The redheaded twins she had watched messing around at breakfast were staring at her, perplexed. It was clear that they felt the same as the Slytherin boy. Gryffindors and Slytherins should be kept separate. She glanced at Moira, who was glaring at the Slytherin boy who had spoken to them.

“Go away, Justin." She muttered. 

Justin raised an eyebrow "You should take my advice, Moira. Slytherins don't mix with witches and wizards who are… beneath them. It's just always been that way." There was that patronising smile again. Jules clenched her fists beneath the table.

"Well I suppose if it's always been that way, we should start burning people at the stake again shouldn't we? Maybe we could take the vote away from women?" She spat sarcastically, staring Justin down. She heard Moira snort next to her. Justin glared back at her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. He seemed to be deciding whether or not to respond. Eventually, he turned on his heel and stalked away, but not before throwing a mutter of "Blood-Traitor…" over his shoulder at Moira. Jules was momentarily worried that after all that Moira might not want to be friends with her, but her fears were immediately assuaged when the other girl stuck her tongue out at Justin's retreating back.

And just like that, an unshakeable bond was formed. It didn't matter that there was only two of them – it never seemed lonely because they never stopped talking. The only thing they had ever disagreed on was The Weird Sisters versus Pulp.

Sighing, Jules slipped the headphones on and pressed 'Play' on the song that Lee Jordan had chosen for them to work on for Muggle Studies, allowing herself a small grin at the ridiculousness of it. He had better have a good ear.

X

"Can you meet me later?" Jules cut right to the chase at breakfast the next morning, slamming her bag down next to a still-dozing Lee and causing him to jump three feet in the air. He glared at Jules.

“You are annoyingly awake for what is still ostensibly the middle of the night."

Jules poured herself a cup of coffee "Early nights. You should try them."

Lee flicked a piece of pastry at her "Being cool. You should try it."

Jules sighed "Are we doing this or not? I know you need a good mark for this one because you didn't do the kitchen appliance essay-"

"-I've never even heard of a Micro-whatsit, it was a totally unreasonable request!" Lee interjected irritably.

" _Whatever_. The point is, you need to do well on this. So can you meet me later on to practice, or what?" Lee slumped in his chair and gave her a defeated nod. Jules took a triumphant sip of coffee and began to butter some toast when she saw the Weasley twins approaching, both suffering from a severe case of bedhead and seemingly as tired as Lee. Jules wondered what they had been up to the previous night to make them all so tired. Fred still looked pale under his freckles, she noticed. Neither twin acknowledged her presence as they slid into their seats, George immediately reaching for any food he could lay his hands on. His twin however hung back, looking a little nauseated. Lee gave his friend a concerned look.

“Still feeling it, man?" Fred only gave a nod in response.

Jules frowned and opened her mouth before she could stop herself "Feeling what?"

Fred's eyes darted over to her as if he were only noticing she was there for the first time. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat "Nothing." He said shortly, unconsciously pulling on the sleeve of his robes. Jules reached across and grabbed his wrist as she had done the day before. Fred hissed in pain and recoiled but not before Jules got a good look at his hand.

“What does that say? 'I must not' what?"

Fred quickly pulled his sleeve back down and glared at her "It says 'I must not be disorderly in my conduct."

Jules stared at him for a moment, perplexed and trying to think where she had heard those words before when she remembered Umbridge sentencing Fred to detention the day before. She gasped. 

“ _She_ did this to you?"

Fred didn't say anything, but he refused to meet her eyes. Jules leaned forward and lowered her voice "You have to tell someone!"

"Tell who, Spencer?" George asked around a mouthful of toast "She works for the Ministry!"

"Dumbledore doesn't answer to the Ministry!"

"Which is why he can't be seen to be making her life difficult." Fred said quietly "The Ministry would have no problem getting rid of Dumbledore. He's already treading a fine line with them. Just…" he sighed and shook his head "Just don't worry about it, OK? We'll get our own back."

Jules stared at him for a moment, studying the grim set of his mouth, the lack of colour in his cheeks. She thought about how raw his hand had looked – had he lost a lot of blood? The same guilty feeling from the night before surfaced. Even if she hadn’t asked for Fred Weasley’s help he had for whatever reason, chosen to give it. And this had been his reward. Making a snap decision, she pointed her wand at an empty goblet and whispered a spell to make it fill. She passed it over the table to Fred.

"Here. Drink this."

Fred eyed the goblet suspiciously "What is it?"

"Pure orange juice. It's got sugar in it to perk you up and vitamin C to help absorb the iron you're going to get from the scrambled eggs you should be eating." Jules piled some eggs onto a plate for him and passed them over before retrieving her bag "Also try some dark chocolate." She slung her bag over her shoulder and left before any of them could reply, making a mental note to send an owl to her mother later.


	3. Chapter Three

**October 9th 1995**

Her mother's response, prompt as always, arrived just after dinner with the item she had requested. The parcel landed on the table with a clunk and Jules savoured the faint whiff of her mother's perfume as she opened the accompanying letter and smiled as her eyes roved over Tabitha Spencer's neat handwriting.

_Darling_

_I must confess that although I don't quite believe your story about your friend being 'lightly' attacked by the Whomping Willow (and I certainly don't condone you coming to me instead of taking him to the hospital wing), I am pleased to hear that you are finally widening your circle of friends – you know I love Moira darling, but it's nice to have other friends isn't it? You two have always been so close, but perhaps it's time to flesh out your private club. Anyway, I'm sending you the Essence of Dittany on the understanding that you will use it RESPONSIBLY. And do me a favour and promise me that the next time someone gets injured you will take them to Madam Pomfrey._

_I love you_

_Mum_

Jules pocketed the bottle that arrived with the note as Lee Jordan approached, looking gloomy.

“Let's get this over with then." He huffed. Jules raised an eyebrow.

"Calm down; I'm not sure we can maintain such a dizzying pace."

Lee made a rude hand gesture which Jules ignored. She stood and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"The Astronomy tower should be free for an hour or so."

"The Astronomy tower?" Lee smirked at her "Juliet Spencer who never puts a toe out of line wants to take me to the out of bounds Astronomy tower?" He waggled a lecherous eyebrow at her "Was this whole assignment just a ploy to have your wicked way with me?"

Jules scoffed "Have you been having delusions long?" she deliberately lengthened her gait, striding ahead officiously and Lee frowned as he hurried to keep up with her.

“Why can't we just go to the common room?"

Jules sighed. She was hoping that she would be able to get Lee up to the Astronomy tower without having to tell him that they wouldn't be practising alone. She considered lying and telling him that she didn't want to practice in front of their fellow Gryffindors. In the end, she decided against it.

“I asked Moira to help us."

"Whoa," Lee stopped in his tracks and grabbed her arm, glaring at her with a mix of surprise and irritation "What do you mean 'help´ us? Can't you go five minutes without your little Slytherin chum in tow?" Jules wrenched her arm back and rolled her eyes.

"She's really good at arranging music. I was listening to the song you picked and I'm not sure I can sing in that key. Besides," She said haughtily, tossing her honey blond hair over her shoulder "it's not my fault you've judged her without even speaking to her." Without waiting, she continued out of the Great Hall and toward the stairs.

"She's a Slytherin!" Lee exploded, jogging to catch up with her again "What else do you need to know?"

"Oh I don't know Jordan, how about _everything_ other than that?" Jules knew she sounded weary; not because she was tired of protecting her friend because she would always do that. No, she was tired of watching the majority of her peers making decisions about each other based on the choices that a piece of clothing made when they arrived at Hogwarts. To her, it felt horribly submissive to foster without question a set of values that someone else had woven together. And she couldn’t honestly believe that rivalry between houses was ever the Sorting Hat’s true intention. 

They walked on for a few moments and Jules wondered if Lee would continue onto the Astronomy tower with her or if he would simply storm off once they got to the Gryffindor common room. To her surprise, he stayed in step with her and they walked in tense silence all the way to Sinistra's classroom, making sure they had textbooks on show to give the impression that they were on the way to the library to study.

Moira was already there, her long legs stretched out across two chairs languorously. She yawned elaborately before standing to greet them. Lee hung back by the door and she sent him an amused look.

“It's OK; I won't tell if you won't." She winked saucily. Behind her, Jules could practically hear Lee bristling and smiled warmly at her friend.

“Do you have something I could transfigure into a guitar? I thought it would be suspicious if any of the prefects saw me carrying mine up here."

X

“Are you a good singer?” Moira chewed absently on a liquorice wand as she flipped idly through an old copy of Witch Weekly whilst Lee waited for Jules to stop muttering to herself over the guitar she had transfigured out of a shoebox so they could practice. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Jules could see Lee trying to act casually; he shrugged as nonchalantly as he could manage but kept his answer short.

“I ‘spose.”

Moira nodded, her eyes never leaving the page of her magazine "Why are you taking Muggle Studies?"

"I wanted to learn about Muggle broadcasting from a magical perspective."

"You want to be on the radio." Moira inferred. It was phrased like a question but somehow wasn't. She sounded bored, but Jules knew this was her way of feeling new people out. Moira liked to make people think that nothing they could possibly say would interest her so they would try to impress her by giving her more information than they planned to.

"Something like that." Jules had to hand it to Lee; he wasn't going down easy. Or so she thought "I want to stand out as a broadcaster; bring something to the table that no one else does. I thought studying Muggle broadcasting would help."

"And has it?" Jules screwed her face up to try and keep from giggling. Moira didn't usually toy with people this long.

"Erm… I uh – well. It's been quite um- interesting..." OK, Jules decided. This had gone on long enough. She whirled around to face them.

“Right. There are a couple of sketchy parts but I think I have something that won’t make us both sound completely awful. Shall we try it?"

X

After Moira had gone over the arrangement for them forty-one times and Lee had threatened to jump out of the window forty times, they decided to call it a day. Pausing at the bottom of the Astronomy tower staircase to ensure that no prowling prefects or Filch could catch them out after curfew, Moira gave Jules an affectionate squeeze on the arm, offered Lee a nod and disappeared in the direction of the Slytherin common room.

Lee and Jules set off for Gryffindor tower, walking in silence. After a few moments, Lee turned to Jules. 

"We're not about to have a conversation where you try to make me admit that my eyes have been opened and I was wrong all along and now I want to start a charity for lonely Slytherins, are we? Because you're in for a disappointment."

Jules stuck out her chin “It is literally nothing to do with me what you decide to do in your downtime, Jordan." she said airily before changing the subject "I think we're getting somewhere with the assignment, don't you?"

"Hm," Lee grunted before lapsing into silence once more for a few moments "You have quite a good voice." He finally said grudgingly. Jules gave him a half-grin.

"Thanks. Yours isn't so bad either. I'm glad Moira looked over the composition – I'd have really struggled in the original key."

"Is that why you're friends? Because you both like music?" They reached the Gryffindor portrait hole and paused.

Jules sighed "Why is everyone so concerned with _why_ we've chosen to be friends? Fairy Lights." The Fat Lady swung the door open with a smile and without waiting for an answer from Lee, Jules clambered in.

Fred and George were still up waiting for their friend in the common room "Welcome back, Lee! Did you survive the wrath of the Serpent's Mistress?" Fred said jovially, shooting Jules a hard look that she returned, narrowing her eyes to show that she didn't find him amusing. He seemed to have brightened considerably since she had left him at breakfast that morning, although he still looked a little wan beneath his freckles. 

Lee collapsed into a chair and placed a hand on his brow "Oh it was awful…" He moaned, but was it Jules's imagination or did he look as though his heart wasn't really in it?

"We were surprised you kept him out so late, Spencer." George grinned devilishly "It's a shame you picked the least experienced out of all of us to drag up to the Astronomy tower."

"Is that all you three think about?" Something struck Jules. She crossed her arms and fixed them with a glare "Wait, how did you know that was where we were?"

The twins gave her an identical leering smirk "We have eyes and ears everywhere, don't we Gred?" Said George mischievously.

"That's right, Forge. We couldn't let someone as innocent and helpless as Lee-"

"Oi!"

"-be spirited away to a place where the Slytherin Princess herself could dislocate her jaw and swallow him whole now, could we?" the look in Fred's eyes was almost spiteful "That would make us very bad friends."

Jules felt her fists clench but she forced herself to keep her voice steady "I see," she said in a low voice "Then I suppose it would make me a very bad friend if I didn't do what I'm about to." She raised her wand " _Colloshoo!_ "

"Hey!" Fred's eyes widened and he made to move toward her but as he went to lift his feet, he found that they were stuck fast to the carpet "You just hexed me!" Lee and George fell about laughing and Jules, not waiting to see Fred's further reaction, turned on her heel and stormed up to her dormitory.

X

Jules stomped into her dormitory and launched her bag at her bed. Her dorm-mates Anna and Caroline were sitting on Caroline's bed dabbing some gloopy pink cream onto each other's faces. They gave her a cursory glance but didn't bother to ask why she was red in the face and shaking with rage. Jules had learned not to expect anything but the barest of interaction from them over the years. She shrugged out of her robes and as she did she felt the heavy bottle of Dittany knocking against her hip. She dug it out of the pocket and stared at it for a moment, the anger inside her failing to quell. Now, a new feeling joined it – shame.

How could she have been so stupid to think that Fred Weasley was actually an alright person? Jules shook her head ruefully at herself and puffed out her cheeks to stop herself from swearing out loud. He was such a sneaky _git_. By taking that detention to cover for her, she had been lulled into a false sense of security. She hadn't been foolish enough to think that they would suddenly become friends overnight, but he hadn't sold her out like she had expected him to. This fact had played on Jules’s mind more than she would have liked to admit over the past day, the small hope that perhaps it was possible for someone - even an arse like Fred Weasley - to have grown emotionally, to suddenly understand how absurd it was to make enemies of each other without any good reason. 

"But I suppose it doesn't mean anything after all…" Jules whispered to herself as she slipped the bottle into her nightstand and got ready for bed, allowing herself a small smirk at the thought that there was a chance that nobody down in the common room knew the counter-hex and that Fred Weasley would be stuck to the floor all night.

X

Jules bit down on her hand to stop a scream of frustration from escaping. She had tried everything she could think of to get to sleep – warm tea, relaxing music, slow deep breathing. Nothing worked. It didn't help that her other roommate Martha had scurried in about two hours after Jules and reporting to the others that 'some horrible cow' had hexed _poor_ Fred Weasley and now he was stuck to the common room floor, thus confirming her guess that no one would know the counter-hex. Jules had listened from behind the closed curtains of her bed, trying not to vomit as all three of them had waxed lyrical about how cute Fred was and what kind of a girl would do that to him.

“Maybe it was revenge for something.” Caroline had suggested. Jules had shaken her head silently. If only they knew.

"He _has_ got a reputation," she'd heard Anna giggle "Hell hath no fury and all of that. I heard that him and Angelina Johnson split because he had a roving eye."

"He's so gorgeous though," Martha had sighed "I bet he's a good kisser…"

This had been enough for Jules, who had to take a pillow and hold it over her ears to drown them out. She had overheard her dorm-mates talking about various Gryffindor men over the years. The Weasley twins had been a prominent mainstay of such conversations and tonight Jules simply hadn't been in the mood. Now however, the dormitory was quiet and all Jules could think about was the fact that she had let her temper get the better of her. She checked her watch –it was nearly two in the morning. If she was right and no one had been able to reverse her hex, Fred Weasley would be coming up to his fifth hour of being stuck to the common room floor. She heard her father's voice in her head, patient and tolerant but ultimately telling her something that she didn’t want to hear.

‘ _You must always be the bigger person, Juliet. Don't let someone's bad behaviour bring you down to their level.'_  
X

He had his back to her as she entered the common room. His head was bowed and his arms hung loosely at his sides. For a second Jules allowed herself an incredulous smile – had he actually fallen asleep standing up?

"Unbelievable." She muttered to herself, picking up a chair and carrying it over to Fred. She positioned it behind the slumbering redhead and moved to stand in front of him. Placing a hand on his chest she gave him an abrupt shove backwards. 

Fred hit the chair with an 'Oof!' and he stared around himself blearily before his gaze settled on Jules and his eyes widened in fury.

“You!" he exploded "Don't tell me you came back to gloat!" he wriggled awkwardly in the chair before a thought struck him "Why am I sitting down?"

"Because your friends – who by the way, I expected better from in the way of counter-hexes – clearly don't like you enough to leave you to your misery in relative comfort so I got you a chair." Jules had by now pulled up her own chair opposite him and was busily blotting some essence of Dittany on to a cloth.

"You could have just performed the counter-hex." Fred grumbled, running a hand over his face before fixing her with a glare.

"And give you the opportunity to get away? Never." Jules said, shaking her head "Give me your hand."

"What? No." Fred folded his arms and Jules saw him wince as he caught his injured one. She sighed irritably and leaned forward to grab his wrist, careful to avoid the raw skin. Fred began to yank his wrist back "Let go!"

"I'm trying to apologise to you, will you stop being such a child?"

"Last time I checked, hand-holding wasn't a required part of an apology!"

Jules somehow managed to get a good enough grip on his arm that she could pin it down and hold the Dittany-soaked cloth onto his wound. Fred hissed at the initial touch but after a few seconds started to relax "What is that?"

"Dittany. My mother brews her own and it’s very good; I asked her to send me some for you." Jules moved the cloth a little to cover more of the wound, her grip on Fred's wrist still tight enough that she could feel his pulse, strong and rhythmic, beneath her fingers. They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the occasional crackle of the dying embers in the grate. Jules peeled back the cloth to look at Fred's hand 

“This is a really deep wound." She murmured, frowning.

"It took some time for the message to 'sink in'." Fred said sourly. At her quizzical look, he explained bitterly about Umbridge's horrid quill. 

Jules listened in horror, her mouth hanging open "Someone has to stop her!" She gasped.

"No. I've already told you Spencer, she works for the Ministry." Fred's voice was low "If anyone tries to take her down, it will only make things worse."

"So what? We should just say nothing and let her torture unsuspecting students?"

"For now, yes."

Jules pulled the cloth off Fred's hand and poured a little more Dittany on it "What do you mean 'for now'?"

"It means that it's under control. That's all you need to know. Besides," Fred said pompously, a sneer returning to his face "How do I know you won't just feed all of this back to your little Slytherin friend?"

"Ah yes," Jules said sarcastically, although she couldn't help but feel a slight pang of hurt at his words "You've rumbled me – how did you know that my overall purpose in befriending her on our first day here was to eventually be able to take information back to her that she won't give a toss about?"

"Maybe that's what she _wants_ you to think." Fred scoffed. 

Jules scoffed "Are you listening to yourself?"

"Slytherins are naturally devious!" Fred argued "They're cunning and sly and they want to eradicate muggleborns! You're taking a big risk by being friends with one."

"Please, tell me more about this _huge_ risk I'm taking by being friends with someone that a _hat_ said should be in a particular house _seven years ago_ " Angry again now, Jules peeled the cloth back from Fred's hand and, seeing that it was fairly well healed, released his wrist from her grip as though she were dropping a hot rock “And you should be careful about making such sweeping generalisations!”

Fred folded his arms once more and jutted his chin out defiantly. 

"The sorting hat is never wrong."

"Maybe the hat isn't wrong, but have you considered that there is a chance that everyone makes the _wrong_ assumptions about what it looks for in a person? And what's more, are you honestly telling me that you're happy to be guided in your behaviour towards other people and yourself for the rest of your life based on what a hat tells you when you're _eleven_?" Jules pushed her chair back and drew her wand, muttering the counter-hex under her breath.

"So what? You're trying to prove that you're cleverer than a thousand year old magical artefact?" Fred flexed his ankles and stood, testing his recovered ability to move his feet.

That did it.

"OK," Jules held up her hands "Let's get one thing straight right now." She moved to stand opposite Fred and despite the fact that he had a good six inches on her, she trained her stony gaze directly at his face "If you think for _one second_ that Moira or I have this cute little mission to prove to the world that boundaries can be broken and friendship is stronger than whichever house you get sorted into, you'd be dead wrong. It's not about _proving_ anything to anyone. If it was, I'd like to think we'd have done a better job of making everyone realise that you can't just take for granted that someone is a certain way because they've been told they belong to one group and not another. It's not even about proving how much smarter I am than people like _you_ ," Jules prodded a finger into Fred's chest to emphasise her point "Who make such stupid childish assumptions about people you don't even know."

Fred did something unexpected then. He leaned in closer to her. Jules could feel his breath on her cheek. His eyes, she noticed, were the darkest brown she had ever seen.

“So what is it about then, Spencer?" His voice, low and rough, sent a vibration through her. Jules felt her mouth go dry and scrambled inwardly to collect herself. She was reminded of what she had overheard from the girls in her dormitory about him being a cad. It was just a power play, she told herself. He wanted her to shrink away from him. She wasn't about to let Fred Weasley win this round.

"Maybe I just don't like being told what to think." She spoke quietly but with a fierceness that surprised even herself, looking him directly in the eye as she did "I want to make up my own mind about people."

Neither moved from where they were standing, their faces mere inches apart. Fred's eyes flickered to her mouth briefly and he licked his lips before meeting her gaze once more and suddenly Jules felt more exposed than she had ever felt in her life. Up close, Fred smelt like a perfect autumn evening – cool, crisp air with just a hint of fireworks and woodsmoke. Was she dreaming, or was he leaning even closer to her now?

She had to stop this. How dare he think he could charm her into forgetting what an ignorant git he was? What if he was just trying to prove that he could get any girl, including a social pariah like her, to melt for him? There was no other explanation. Struggling to maintain her train of thought, Jules looked down to fumble with the essence of Dittany. 

"Y-you should take this," She stammered, pushing the bottle into his hands "You'll probably need it again at some point…" She moved away quickly, hurrying back toward the staircase leading to her dormitory. Pausing at the bottom to glance back, she saw that Fred was still standing where she had left him in the middle of the common room watching her. She felt a blush creeping up her neck.

“Goodnight." She murmured embarrassedly before running up the stairs back to the safety of her room. She crept over to her bed as quietly as she could so as not to wake the others and slipped beneath the covers, her face burning and the feel of Fred standing so close still fresh in her mind.

What had just happened?


	4. Chapter 4

**October 10th, 1995**

Fred Weasley stood in the common room, rooted to the spot for an entirely different reason to the one that had kept him there for the previous five hours. Had he really been mere seconds away from kissing Juliet Spencer, the girl who had spent her entire school career alienating her housemates and making life hard for herself by befriending a Slytherin? 

Fred stared at the bottle of Dittany she had shoved into his hands before she had beat a hasty retreat. Maybe she thought that by getting her mother to send it to her they would be even for him taking the fall for that muggle machine she had snuck into school.

And _why_ had he done that? George and Lee had stared at him in disbelief when he had spoken up and ribbed him all day for doing _Juliet Spencer_ a favour. He had mumbled something about showing her what it meant to be loyal to one's house but in his heart he knew that hadn't been the reason. All he knew was that the moment Umbridge had swooped in to pick up the device, Jules had looked utterly crestfallen. As though she may cry - _really_ cry, not the melodramatic squealing tears you’d expect from a teenage girl, but the heavy, heart-wrenching sort of crying that looked like it _hurt._ And he had been overcome with the sudden urge to remedy that. 

Fred ran a hand over his face and began to slope off towards the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories.

She wasn't unattractive per say, he mused as he wearily climbed the steps, his freshly un-hexed feet heavy against the chilly stone. In fact, it was really the first time he had given her any real thought besides his usual irritation at her inability to see that being friends with a Slytherin was preposterous (and naturally therefore, her subsequent tenacity in ignoring whoever told her this). As she had sat tending his hand (rather roughly, he might add – no bedside manner), he had found himself unable to avoid staring at her. She had allowed her hair to grow much longer in recent years, the honey blonde mane hanging loose down her back, shiny and thick – similar to what muggles imagined mermaids to look like. Her complexion was clear and tanned and her features dainty. Up close, he could see that her eyes were a flinty blue. When she had squared up to him, they had flashed dangerously. She was small, but fierce.

_‘Maybe I don't like being told what to think. I want to make my own mind up about people.'_ Her words drifted back to him as he trudged into his dormitory, stopping briefly to cast a dirty look at the sleeping forms of his twin brother and best friend. Traitors.

What had she meant by that? "Wants to make up her own mind..." Fred muttered under his breath as he changed into his pyjamas "Mad woman." But even as he said it, he knew there was no conviction behind his words. 

Because although he would never in a million years admit it to himself or anyone else, he wanted to know what Juliet Spencer had made up her mind about _him._

_**October 13th, 1995** _

"You're missing that same key change every time…" Jules sighed as she and Lee faltered at the same point in the song for a fourth time. 

Lee rolled his eyes "It doesn't have to be perfect, Spencer – we're not performing the half-time show at the Quidditch World Cup! Besides," he huffed, slumping into a chair "I'm only missing it because you're rushing past it!"

Jules scoffed "I hardly think so."

"You are! You build up momentum through the second verse and the notes are practically falling over themselves by the time you get to the key-change!"

"Actually, he's right Jules." Moira interjected from the other side of Sinistra's classroom where she didn't even look up from the essay she was writing. They stared at her in disbelief, Lee's mouth hanging open. 

Jules sputtered "Why didn't you say anything?"

Moira put her quill down and shrugged "I assumed one of you would figure it out eventually." She raised her arms above her head in a languorous stretch and in that moment, two things were not lost on Jules – one was that Lee Jordan's eyes roved over Moira's slender and rangy figure seemingly before he could stop himself. The other was that Moira, having also noticed this, prolonged her stretch into some elaborate piece of seated gymnastics in order that he might get an even better look. 

Jules, somewhat disconcerted but her curiosity roused by this occurrence, made a snap decision and beckoned to Moira "You sing it then. Show me how it's done."

Moira raised an eyebrow at her friend, her cool green eyes sending a warning glance. Slowly she stood and made her way over to the space they had clear for Lee and Jules to stand. Jules motioned to Lee to get up "Come on then." Lee rolled his eyes but as he heaved himself into a standing position, Jules noticed that his gaze kept flitting to Moira as though he was only seeing her for the first time. Fighting a smirk, she counted them in and strummed out the opening chords on the guitar that she had managed to transfigure out of a chair. Lee took a deep breath and began to sing.

_What’s the sense in sharing_

_This one and only life_

_Ending up just another_

_Lost and lonely wife_

_If you count up the years_

_They will be filled with tears_

Jules still couldn't believe that out of all of the music they had at their disposal, Lee had plumped for a Candy Staton song. She had to hand it to him though; his voice was strong and clear. Moira watched him for her cue and launched into the second verse.

_Love only breaks up_

_To start over again_

_You’ll get the babies_

_But you won’t have your man_

_While he is busy loving_

_Every woman that he can_

 

The arrangement was more melancholy than the original and Jules was secretly impressed by how good it sounded, but right at that moment she was more interested in the unexpected development occurring in front of her eyes. Moira and Lee were stood facing one another, eyes locked on each other's faces. Moira sang in a slightly higher key than Jules so the melody wasn't exactly perfect but her timing (as usual) was impeccable and Lee certainly didn't seem to mind. 

_You say you’re gonna leave_

_A hundred times a day_

_It’s easier said than done_

_When you just can’t break away_

As they harmonised, Jules could see them edging closer to one another, lost in the moment. 

_Young hearts_

_Run free_

_Never be hung up_

_Hung up like my man and me_

_Young hearts_

_To yourselves be true_

_Don’t be no fool when_

_Love really don’t love you_

The song finished and Jules waited a few seconds for them to snap back to reality. When they didn't, she shifted awkwardly, wishing she could just quietly slip away from what almost felt like a private moment. She cleared her throat.

"I uh – I see what you mean about the key change. I'll remember that."

"Right." Moira said vaguely, her eyes still on Lee, who responded to Jules with only a "Hmm." The three of them fell silent again. As the only one seemingly not under whatever spell had been cast, Jules racked her brain for ways to retrieve the situation in order to make herself feel less awkward. She had never been good at silences. The urge to fill the void was far too great. She made a great show of checking her watch.

"Jordan, didn't you say you had to be somewhere right now?" That did it. Lee checked his own watch and his eyes widened.

“Bloody hell! I have to go!" dipping his head embarrassedly as he stooped to gather his things before giving them each a brief nod goodbye and stumbling out of the classroom. They heard him clattering down the stairs and Jules waited a full minute before turning to Moira with a knowing smirk.

Moira, to her credit, had composed herself once more and simply arched an eyebrow back at her best friend.

"Smirking is very unladylike, Jules."

"So is giving unsuspecting gentleman a deliberate eyeful of your assets." Jules shot back, laying the guitar down in order to transfigure it back into a chair. 

Moira sashayed back to the desk she had been working at and began to pack up her work "I don't know what you mean." She said airily, but threw a grin over her shoulder at Jules.

Jules grinned back at her friend, but something was troubling her "You do… know what you're doing, don't you?"

Moira turned and perched on the edge of the desk, fixing her friend with a look "Worried that I'm going to flatten the poor little Lion?" she asked playfully. 

Jules smiled and shook her head, crossing the room to sit next to her "I'm worried about you. You know how Gryffindors feel about Slytherins. I don't want you to get hurt and I definitely don't want to go down for murder – at least not this early in life."

Moira nudged Jules affectionately with her elbow "Jules, it was a brief moment of near-flirtation that will probably never happen again. I honestly think you might be overthinking this."

"Maybe," Jules conceded "Just promise me that you'll be careful though."

"Darling, as a Slytherin I am _always_ careful. Just because you Gryffindors rush off half-cocked doesn't mean the rest of us are quite so cavalier." Moira linked her arm through Jules' as they descended the steps from the Astronomy tower. At the bottom, they hugged before parting company and Jules set off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, keeping to the shadows as best she could. The last thing she needed right now was to be discovered out after curfew.

She hadn't told Moira what had happened with Fred Weasley the other night in the common room. Strictly speaking, nothing had happened. But it was the first thing that she had actively kept from her best friend in a long time and Jules couldn't help but feel guilty about it. The memory of Fred towering over her, his mouth so close to hers, had turned out to be more difficult to shake than she had anticipated. It caught her at odd times, completely blindsiding her and making her blush as she recalled the throaty growl of his voice and his delicious smell assaulting her senses. Moira had chided her for being distracted a few times so Jules knew her friend sensed something was up, but for some reason Jules just couldn't bring herself to admit the kind of effect Fred Weasley suddenly seemed to have on her.

She turned the corner leading to the staircase that would take her to the Gryffindor common room, lost in her thoughts when ironically enough, the object of them came barrelling toward her, crashing straight into her as he ran. 

Jules gasped in surprise, stumbling backwards and Fred's arms instinctively came out to grab her around the waist to stop her from falling. Jules barely had time to re-orient herself before she found herself being dragged by the arm along the corridor back in the direction from which she had come.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed, trying to wrench her arm back. Fred's grip was tight around her elbow as they charged along.

"Keep your voice down!" He hissed "Do you want to get caught?"

As if to illustrate his point, in the distance Jules heard the tinkling of a cat's collar and the creak of Filch's voice as he conducted his usual one-sided conversation with Mrs Norris.

"What are we going to do?" She whispered, struggling to keep up with Fred as they ran through the corridors. Fred glanced back at her and although Jules would later swear blind that she had imagined it, she felt sure that he winked at her.

"Don't worry; I know a place."


	5. Chapter Five

**October 13th, 1995**

 

"What in the name of Merlin are you looking for? We've already passed two classrooms that would be perfect for hiding in! It doesn't have to be a palace Weasley - just good enough that we won't get caught!" Jules snapped irritably as Fred dragged her past yet another decent hiding spot. They had gained enough ground that their sprint had slowed to a half-jog but Fred maintained his grip on Jules's arm, his warm strong hand completely encircling her bicep. Jules, for her part, was trying to ignore the feeling this gave her. They were now turning onto the seventh floor corridor, and Jules honestly couldn't understand why he had dragged her past all of the sensible places to a part of Hogwarts where there were no classrooms and as far as she knew, no places to hide.

"Spencer, for once in your life would you do the smart thing and trust me?" Fred kept his voice low and he cast a glance back over his shoulder to ensure Filch - or anyone else - hadn't snuck up on them.

Jules's eyes widened in fury "The smart thing?" She echoed, stopping in her tracks and wrenching her arm from his grasp "You self-righteous toad!"

Fred made a grab for her arm again but she dodged it "Spencer, now is not the time-"

"Actually, I couldn't think of a better time to advise you on exactly what you can do with those idiotic products you and George waste your days on..." Jules spat viciously, folding her arms and glaring at him. Fred however, did not look as though he was listening and had begun to pace back and forth in front of Barnabas the Barmy, a look of pressured concentration on his face. After three laps, he stopped and stared at the wall across from the statue. Jules opened her mouth to ask what on Earth he thought he was doing but was interrupted as the wall Fred was facing suddenly began to shift and a doorway appeared. Glancing back and seeing her stunned expression, Fred smirked before grabbing her arm once more and bundling her through it.

X

It looked like a sitting room. There were two plush sofas settled in front of a wood burner and a tray of tea on a table. Off to one side, there stood a bookshelf filled not only with books but seemingly all manner of board games and puzzles. Jules stared open-mouthed around the room. Eventually her gaze came to land on Fred, who was watching her with considerable amusement "Where are we?" She managed.

Fred gave her a superior smile "Officially it's known as the Room of Requirement, but colloquially I've come to refer to it as "'Place where I come to wait out the storm'."

"And you can just... summon it? Just like that? Without your wand?"

Fred laughed "Oh, how I would love for you to think that I am so advanced a wizard that I can simply conjure a hiding place out of thin air. The clue is in the title darling; the room appears when you require it." He spoke as though he were talking to a simpleton and Jules felt her hackles rise. Fred glanced around the room and snorted derisively "It must like the look of you; it's usually just a broom closet when George and I need it. I suppose this is one time I can be grateful for your company - riding out the night in a broom cupboard is terribly bad for your back."

"Don't call me darling." Jules snapped "And what do you mean 'riding out the night'? I thought we only needed to hide until Filch was gone?"

Fred raised one sardonic eyebrow "Spencer, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm Fred Weasley."

"Why do you think I'm so annoyed about being stuck here with you?" Jules spat sarcastically "And what does that have to do with us having to stay here all night?"

"I mean, whenever anything that looks like it could have 'Fred and George' written all over it, Filch gets bored of running around the castle after us, sets up camp outside the Gyffindor common room and waits to catch us trying to sneak back in. He'll be there until at least the early hours," Fred flopped onto one of the sofas and reclined back into the plush cushions, his long legs stretched out in front of him "Normally I'd have Lee or George in place to provide a distraction so I could sneak back in, but Lee didn't turn up for some reason," He shot her an accusing look "And George is… otherwise engaged tonight."

"That's a polite way of saying he's trying to get his leg over." Jules remarked dryly, making a beeline for the opposite sofa before slumping onto it defeatedly and covering her face with her hands "I can't believe I have to sit here all night because of your compulsive need to cause mayhem..." She groaned from behind her fingers.

"I can't believe I have to sit here all night with an ungrateful wretch of a witch who I could have just as easily left in the corridor to take the fall. And judging by the state of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, it was worth at least a week of detentions once Umbridge found out."

Jules sat up straight and shot him a glare "I don't need you to rescue me, Fred Weasley. I could have easily done a week of detention, even if it was the result of a miscarriage of justice. Besides, it's not as though you've ever cared whether I got in trouble before – what's changed?"

"Calm down Spencer, you're not that special. I just thought it would be unfair to let someone else take the fall for my actions."

Jules gave a defensive scoff "Like when I let you 'take the fall' for me the other day, you mean?" She held up her fingers to make air quotes "I've told you already, I never asked-"

"That's not what I meant. Merlin, you're so bloody stubborn!" Fred shot back irritably "I took the fall for you because if Umbridge found out that you had an illegally charmed object at school, a detention would have been the least of your worries. You and I both know you would have been expelled," he narrowed his eyes, his tone sarcastic "and then where would Gryffindor be without it's resident sanctimonious Slytherin sympathiser?"

The shocked silence that followed was filled with seething hatred. Fred glared at her from across the room, daring her to rise to the challenge with fire in his gaze. Jules sat completely still and silent as she fought the urge to pick up the steaming teapot from next to the fire and dump it directly into his lap. She felt stunned by the cruelty of his words. It was nothing she hadn't heard before, but just as it had the other night, it cut her deeper than she had expected. Finally, her voice shaking, she whispered "Screw you, Weasley." And stood to leave.

Her hand was on the door when he spoke "Filch will still be waiting outside the common room, you know."

Jules paused, her fingers still gripping the handle "Are you saying that because you think I'm scared of getting into trouble, or because you're scared I'll tell on you?"

"Neither."

"Then why do you _care_?" Jules turned back to look at him, leaning her back against the door, suddenly exhausted.

"Because catching a detention from Umbridge because of me is something I can't allow." As Fred spoke, Jules saw him unconsciously flex his left hand. In the firelight, she could still see the pink sheen of a newly healed scar. Part of her desperately wanted to leave just to show him he couldn't tell her what to do. The problem was, this was largely being overshadowed by the part of her that remembered the feeling of his gaze on her lips a few nights before. Sighing, she moved back to flop onto the free sofa.

"Don't think this means I take back the 'Screw You, Weasley'." Without waiting for a response, she rummaged in her bag for her Walkman and headphone, jamming them into her ears forcefully before lying down and turning to face the back of the sofa.

X

When Jules awoke, she found herself lying with her face crushed into the plush backing of the sofa, drool pooling beneath her chin. She allowed herself to panic as she realised this wasn't her bed, sitting bolt upright and nearly yelling out as her gaze came to rest on Fred Weasley still sat on the opposite couch, his hand frozen in mid-air as he prepared to make a move on the Wizards' Chess board in front of him.

"H-how long was I asleep?" Jules mumbled, her hand coming up to surreptitiously wipe away the drool from her chin. The fire in the Woodburner still crackled comfortingly and the pot of tea on the end table still steamed as though it were newly brewed.

Fred didn't even look up from his game "A while. It's nearly four in the morning. Another hour or so and we should be safe to head back."

As Jules yawned and stretched, she realised that at some point she had been covered with a blanket. Fred glanced up briefly to see her looking at it questioningly and shrugged "You looked like you might be cold."

"Um… thanks." Jules felt a blush creeping up her neck and stood to pour herself a cup of tea, turning her back to him while she willed her face not to turn red. Remembering her earlier anger at him, she said curtly "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"No thanks, the pot keeps replenishing itself. I've already had three."

"Huh." Jules settled herself back onto the sofa hands curled around her cup, and watched as Fred lost miserably in what had to be the bloodiest game of Wizards' chess she had ever seen. After a few moments of carnage, she asked incredulously "Do you even know how to play?"

"If by 'play', you mean enchant Percy's pieces to completely ignore him then yes, I play all the time. Do you-" Fred looked up from the board at Jules and seemed to forget what he was going to say. Jules stared at him expectantly, eyebrows raised.

"Do I what?"

Fred opened and closed his mouth like a fish for a moment. He seemed less assured than earlier less aggressive "D-do you uh, want to play?"

"Aside from the fact that I would beat you so badly it wouldn't even feel like a victory, I still hate you as much as I did when I fell asleep, so no thanks - I'd rather shower with a bear."

Fred jutted his chin out defiantly, the awkwardness of the previous moment seemingly washed away "Hate is a very strong word, Spencer."

"So is 'Sanctimonious'." Jules retorted sharply, the earlier tension returning quickly to the room "You think you know people based on what you've been told to believe about them. Just because I don't want to be told what to believe, that makes me sanctimonious?" She stood and slammed her teacup back onto the end-table and began to gather up her bag "Sod this," She hissed "I can't stay another minute in this place with you. I don't care if I get caught and have to do a _month_ of detention…"

Jules stomped toward the door, fury coursing through her veins. Perhaps that was why, when she felt Fred grab her arm and whirl her back toward him, she reached for her wand to hex him into the following week.

She did not expect Fred Weasley to crush his mouth to hers in an earth-shattering kiss, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her head, the other snaking its way around her waist to pull her closer to him, pressing his body to hers hungrily. Jules felt a heat rising within her, spreading to every corner of her body, the furious energy suddenly channelled into this senseless act of passion. She reached up and grabbed a fistful of Fred's jumper, pulling him even closer. Jules felt him manoeuvre her toward the door, her back colliding against the hard surface. He reached up to stroke her cheek with the pad of his thumb, still kissing her feverishly. Jules felt her breath catch in her throat as he angled his leg between hers to steady them both against the door, removing any and all space that had existed between them.

Fred's lips were powerful and artful in their ministrations; a little chapped from all the nights spent Quidditch training in the freezing cold but warm and tasting slightly of some sweet thing she couldn't put her finger on. Jules thought she could detect a tiny scar as she moved her own lips enthusiastically against his – split lip from an errant bludger, perhaps? She flicked her tongue out to probe further, running the tip over his bottom lip and causing Fred to groan raggedly against her mouth, sending a shiver down her spine.

The sudden sound broke the spell. For a second, Fred and Jules both stood frozen, Jules still pressed between Fred and the door leading back onto the Seventh Floor Corridor. Their lips were no longer fused but remaining mere centimetres apart as they both attempted to assimilate what had just happened.

"I-"

"I'm-"

They began to speak at the same time, gabbling over each other. Fred released Jules from his grip and backed away, his hands up as if in surrender "That was…" He trailed off.

Jules smoothed out her robes, suddenly nervous "I - I should go…" She muttered embarrassedly. This time there was no stopping the blush creeping onto her face. Her only consolation was that Fred had turned an alarming shade of red too. Before he could say anything, she grabbed her bag and fled the Room of Requirement, once again leaving Fred Weasley standing there speechless.


	6. Chapter 6

**October 14th, 1995**

Jules heard the door to the Room of Requirement slam behind her and for a moment she stood stock still in the seventh floor corridor, trying to work out whether she was dreaming. 

She was cold all over except for her face, which felt flushed and prickly. Lifting a hand to touch her tingling lips, she closed her eyes for a brief second and allowed herself to sway gently on the spot, feeling a shiver run down her spine as the memory of Fred's kiss enveloped her. A wave of anxiety washed over her as she realised how confusing this now made things.

Why had he kissed her? Fred Weasley didn't even _like_ her. In all their years at Hogwarts he had, at best, treated her with the kind of dismissive scorn the rest of her fellow Gryffindors had and at worst, had insulted her best friend and made ignorant assumptions about the sort of person she was without even getting to know her.

And yet he had just kissed her with the kind of hunger she had only read about in trashy romance novels, as though he actually… wanted her. Jules shook her head as though to clear it of the thought. The thought that Fred Weasley might have anything like an attraction to her was absurd. 

On legs still shaking like jelly, Jules set off down the corridor, steadfastly ignoring the swell of excitement such an idea gave her, instead trying to concentrate on a more logical reaction: righteous indignation. He was playing a game with her - that had to be it. Well she wasn't going to allow herself to be drawn into it. Under no circumstances would she allow him to kiss her like that again.

X

For the second time in the last few days, Fred Weasley watched Juliet Spencer practically sprint away from him leaving him stood bemused in the middle of an empty room. 

What on Earth had he been thinking, kissing her like that? 

Fred collapsed back onto the sofa he had been sat on all night and stared at the spot opposite him where a few moments before, he had seen her. Not just looked at her, but for what felt like the first time in his life, had actually _seen_ Juliet Spencer. 

She was much smaller than he had originally assumed, Fred had noted with some surprise. Perhaps because of how fiercely she stood up for herself. Perhaps because she carried herself with the confidence of a tall person. But at that moment she had sat, dozily leaning forward with her elbows resting on her knees to observe his massacre of a chess game, hair slightly mussed and her eyes hooded with sleep but alert and curious. When he had looked up to speak to her, to goad her into playing a game against him in order to relieve his boredom after being left to amuse himself all night, he had realised all at once how tiny she actually was and the words had dried up in his throat.

Fred let out an anguished groan. He had never had that problem before. He (and his silver tongue) had quite the reputation. Angelina had always had a witty retort for him, but beneath it all he had known her heart hadn't really been in it so the stakes had been low. Even lower when he had discovered it was George she really fancied. Fred thought he would be more jealous of that, but privately he had always known that the gorgeous chaser only had eyes for his twin. It had not been difficult to step aside when he saw the disappointment in both of their eyes when they realised they would not be attending the Yule Ball together. Of course the rumour mill had whirled, that had been why George and Angelina had been attempting to keep their attachment to themselves. Somehow Fred had come off the worse but he didn't care about what people thought about him.

Except, strangely, the petite blonde who by her own admission would rather shower with a rabid animal than voluntarily engage in a social activity with him. It seemed as though he cared a great deal about what she thought. Even if she had a penchant for fraternising with the enemy and didn't seem to give a damn whether anyone knew it. 

Fred had to admit; he'd been impressed when she had admitted to having an illegal charm put on that muggle device so that she could sneak it into school undetected. Despite her terrible taste in friends, Jules had always been a model student, never so much as losing a point for Gryffindor, let alone being given a detention. Never in a million years would he have expected her to have the nerve to do something that would undoubtedly result in her expulsion.

Fred's mind drifted to their kiss. At the time, he had only meant to grab her arm to stop her from leaving, to apologise for calling her sanctimonious. But as she whirled around, her body had toppled against him and an overwhelming desire to taste her had taken hold. He had moved without thinking about the consequences or how she might react. When she started to kiss him back, all logical thought flew from his mind. She smelt of jasmine and peppermint and the ocean and something Fred couldn't place but he imagined that if longing for adventure had a scent, Juliet Spencer had it. When she had run the tip of her tongue over the scar on his bottom lip, he wasn't sure if he was going to die on the spot or lose what little control he had left and take her right there.

And now here he sat, wondering if the whole situation was so bizarre that he might be convinced that he'd dreamt the whole thing. There was only one thing he knew for sure.

Breakfast was going to be awkward.

X

Jules wasn't sure how she made it to the Great Hall, but when she finally pulled herself from her distracted reverie, she had somehow showered (although whether she had actually shampooed her hair was up for debate) and changed out of the school robes she had slept in, put new ones on and was now piling sugar into a strong cup of coffee. She felt adrift among her fellow Gryffindors and in desperate need of companionship, someone to anchor her in the present. She needed Moira. Craning her neck to get a better view, she scanned the Slytherin table looking for her best friend to try and catch her eye.

And what would Moira make of all of this? She would be as surprised as Jules for sure. Would she know any better what all of it meant? Unlikely, but at least they would be bemused together. Jules slumped back into her seat in disappointment as she gathered that Moira had not yet arrived for breakfast. Turning her attention to the food in front of her, Jules realised with a sinking feeling that she felt too nervous to eat. What was happening to her?

"You look knackered, Spencer. Did you finally try that 'being cool' thing I told you about and stay up all night?" Lee Jordan's voice broke into her thoughts and Jules's head snapped up to see him standing in front of her, thankfully without either of the twins in tow. 

She scowled at him and he seemingly took this as an invitation to sit down, which surprised her "I didn't sleep well." She grumbled. Lee raised an eyebrow.

"You hadn't come back to the common room by the time I went to bed at midnight. You and Moira lose track of time?" 

Jules noted with interest that for the first time, Lee had referred to Moira by name. She also noticed that he didn't seem to know exactly where she had been all night, although he could be bluffing, trying to scope out information for Fred. She gave a non-committal shrug "Something like that." Turning the tables on him, she asked "What about you? Where did you rush off to in such a hurry?"

"Oh," Lee looked embarrassed "I was supposed to be on lookout duty for… someone. By the time I got back though, it was too late."

"Hunh." Jules sipped her coffee and tried to look disinterested "Where are your other two heads today?"

Lee shrugged "Haven't seen either of them since last night." He shifted a little in his seat, looking uncomfortable "Listen, did you two want to, uh… practice again tonight?"

Jules smirked and was about to reply when another voice interrupted their conversation "What's this, Lee?" Jules and Lee looked up to see the Weasley twins - Fred looking annoyingly fresh and well rested, Jules noted – standing beside them. They sat down either side of Lee and Jules suddenly became very interested in adding yet more sugar to her coffee in order to avoid looking directly at Fred.

"Did my ears betray me, or are you actively seeking out the company of a Slytherin?" George elbowed Lee in the ribs "Has Spencer got you under the Imperius curse or something?"

"I'm sitting right here!" Jules blurted indignantly before she could stop herself. 

George cast her a glare "I'm just saying, first he lets Fred down and leaves him out in the cold all night, and now he's looking for opportunities to hang out with Moira Paige. It's all a bit suspicious, if you ask me."

"No one did ask you." Lee retorted hotly, but the self-conscious look on his face said he knew he had been rumbled. Clearly angling for a change of subject, he turned to Fred "Mate, I'm really sorry about last night. Filch didn't catch you, did he?"

Fred shook his head "Nah, I got away in time. In fact," he straightened, puffing out his chest proudly "It was such a brilliant and daring execution of a solo prank, I have come to realise that in fact the only thing that's been holding me back all these years is you two."

The three of them dissolved into childish bickering and Jules took the opportunity to try and slip away, knocking back the rest of her now too-sweet coffee and grabbing her bag. Maybe she could find Moira before first lesson. She hurried away with her head down, unaware that Fred was watching her leave out of the corner of his eye.

X

 

Jules collided with Moira almost as soon as she left the Great Hall and at the sight of her was seized with an overwhelming sense of relief. Barely issuing a greeting, Jules dragged her into the nearest empty classroom before blurting out "Fred Weasley kissed me!", then sinking down at a desk and resting her head on her arms.

Moira stood before Jules, her face blank and inscrutable for a full minute before she spoke.

"So... I'm not getting breakfast again?"

"This isn't a joke Moira!"

"Neither is malnutrition, Jules. But somehow, I feel as though someone somewhere is having a laugh at my expense."

Still with her head on the desk, Jules gestured toward her bag "I brought you a pumpkin pasty."

Moira rooted through her friend's bag and retrieved the pastry before sighing and flopping down next to Jules "Start at the beginning."

Jules told her everything. About the Room of Requirement, about the self-replenishing teapot, about the blanket Fred had put over her while she slept, even his appalling lack of Chess skills. Moira listened intently, a tiny wrinkle in her otherwise perfectly smooth brow indicating that she was thinking. When Jules had finished, she sat back for a minute, tapping out a thoughtful rhythm on the desk with her long fingernails.

"What was it like?"

"I don't know!" Jules threw her hands into the air and fought the urge to cry in frustration "Does it matter?"

Moira raised an eyebrow "You... don't know what it was like?"

"I mean, it was... It was Fred Weasley for Merlin's sake!"

"Yes Jules, we've established that it was in fact Fred Weasley that you snogged-"

"-He snogged me!"

"-Whatever. The point is, I'm more interested in whether you liked it or not."

Jules stared at Moira, her mouth working wordlessly for a minute before she sputtered "He's a pig!"

"He kisses like a pig or he is a pig?"

"He is a pig!"

Moira cocked an eyebrow "That's not what I asked. I asked if you liked it."

"Moira please!" Jules stood and began pacing back and forth, wringing her hands "What on Earth do you think it means? What am I supposed to do now?"

"How did you leave things with him?"

Jules stopped pacing and stood before Moira, suddenly bashful "I… may have made a speedy exit."

Moira's eyes widened "You ran away?"

"'Sprinted' might be slightly more accurate." Jules felt a blush creeping up her neck. Moira levelled her gaze at her.

“That's not like you, Jules. I would have been less shocked if you'd told me that he was currently hanging from the top of the Astronomy tower by his underwear."

"He took me by surprise, OK?" Jules slumped back down into a chair "This whole situation is easily the most bizarre thing that's ever happened. I keep expecting to wake up and find it was all a dream." She looked guiltily at Moira "It was a really good kiss."

Moira's features softened "Took you long enough to admit it." She chided, gently punching Jules on the shoulder "What are you going to do about it?"

Jules thought in silence for a minute, chewing on her lower lip. Eventually, she sighed heavily and sat up straight, brushing a piece of lint from her skirt "Nothing. I'm going to do nothing. I'm going to pretend it never happened. A good kiss from a pig is still a kiss from a pig."

Moira didn't look convinced, but nodded as if to concede the point. She stood and hooked her bag over her shoulder and arms linked, they left the classroom.

X

 

**October 19th, 1995**

"That was excellent, you two! Aren't you glad I paired you together for this assignment after all?" Lee and Jules offered each other conciliatory smiles before returning to their seats. Professor Burbage clapped her hands delightedly "I don't know why either of you has never joined the choir. I should recommend you to Professor Flitwick…" She rambled on a little while longer before selecting the next pair of students to perform their muggle song. As Phillip Thompson and Caroline Stark launched into an awkward rendition of 'Row Row Row Your Boat', Lee leaned over to Jules.

"Call me critical, but I suspect the standard peaked with our performance." he whispered. 

Jules rolled her eyes "We were first on the list!"

"So? There is such a thing as peaking too soon, Spencer."

Jules offered him a grin "I bet you're glad you don't have to sit through anymore endless rehearsals though." She whispered. 

Lee shrugged "It's not so bad. I've spent my evenings in worse company."

Jules was about to ask if that meant he enjoyed Moira's company as well as her own when a tiny ball of parchment came flying through the air from behind them and bounced off Lee's shoulder. Lee and Jules turned to face Alan Milner, a seventh year Hufflepuff with a sweet smile and an almost impossibly round face.

“You guys were great!" he whispered enthusiastically "Have you thought about doing this sometime?" He pushed a parchment flier across the desk toward them, all the while keeping an eye on Burbage who was trying valiantly and failing to maintain her level of enthusiasm for the tuneless singing at the front of the classroom. 

Lee picked up the flier and scanned it "There's an open mike night at the Three Broomsticks?"

Alan grinned "Apparently it’s where DJ Martha got her break. They sometimes get scouts for the WWN drinking there.”

Interest peaked, Jules leaned in to read over Lee's shoulder "DJ Martha was discovered at the Three Broomsticks?"

The Hufflepuff nodded and Jules felt her breath hitch in her chest. She could hardly believe such an amazing opportunity had fallen into her lap. Her heart swelled and she fought the urge to leave the classroom then and there to find Moira and tell her before her stomach dropped back to earth with a thud. Almost as quickly as the excitement had grown, her mother's face appeared in her mind's eye – not exactly disapproving, but worried. Jules knew her mother was anxious about her daughter's desire to make music her life, and as a result Jules had tried to assuage her fears by taking all the necessary courses to become a healer. She didn't hate the idea of working St Mungo's for the rest of her life and she was already showing a good aptitude for healing charms and potions, but Jules couldn't resist the pull of music - the way a guitar felt in her hand and the way her heart felt like it would burst when she sang. 

‘It's a nice hobby, darling,' Tabitha Spencer always said gently 'But it's so unsteady as a job.'

Jules' thoughts were interrupted by Professor Burbage's calls for their attention. Reluctantly, she pushed all thoughts of it to the back of her mind until Lee caught up with her after class "So what do you think?"

"Think about what?" Jules asked as they fought their way through the thronging corridors. 

Lee fished the now crumpled flier out of his pocket and waved it at her "The open mike night, Spencer! Would you enter?"

"Enter what?" Moira had appeared next to them and Jules thought she saw Lee blush as she leaned unnecessarily close to him to pluck the flier from his hands. As well as her growing annoyance at the idea that she might miss out on the chance of a lifetime because her mother may not approve, Jules felt a spark of irritation at Moira and Lee's continued dancing around of each other. 

It had been almost a week since Fred Weasley had kissed her in the Room of Requirement and Jules had spent the previous days practically jumping into cupboards and hiding under tables whenever she caught sight of the redhead in an effort to distance herself from the incident as much as possible and stop herself from thinking about it. In spite of this, the kiss had been the first and last thing on her mind each morning and night. It suddenly felt desperately unfair that other people should be allowed to have such straightforward flirtations - especially since Moira had sworn blind to Jules on several occasions that nothing was happening with Lee. 

Moira's dark eyes roamed over the paper for a few seconds before flicking back up to both of them "This could be your chance, Jules," She smiled "Are you going to enter as a pair or separately? Personally, I think you should enter as a pair – your voices complement each other -"

"I'm not sure that I'm going to enter at all." Jules snapped a little irritably, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. 

Moira stared at her friend aghast "Jules, this is everything you've ever wanted. You can't possibly be thinking about letting the opportunity to be discovered go." She nudged Lee "Tell her."

"Spencer, if what Moira says is true and this is something you've always wanted then maybe you should think about giving it a try-"

"Maybe I don't want it anymore," Jules knew she sounded petulant but couldn't stop herself "Maybe I've come around to the idea that it's just a stupid dream." 

Not waiting for a response, she stormed off down the corridor toward the Charms classroom. As she was almost out of hearing distance, she heard Moira ask Lee "What in Merlin's name is wrong with her?"

X

Jules decided to skip dinner after Charms and go to the library and hide for the evening. She was alone in there, save for Hermione Granger who as per usual was sat surrounded by a gigantic pile of books. To her left, seemingly having been banished to the next table, sat her friends – the youngest Weasley brother and the scruffy haired Harry Potter - who were busily copying one another's homework. Jules dumped her things on the empty table on the other side of Hermione, who barely looked up to acknowledge her presence, and sat down.

Twenty minutes and only three centimetres of parchment later, Jules sighed as she tried to ignore the guilty feeling that had been gnawing at her ever since she had snapped at her best friend earlier. Moira hadn't deserved that. She had been encouraging her and Jules knew that besides the raven-haired beauty, there was a distinct lack of her fellow students willing to fight her corner. For a long time, each had been all the other had. Just because Jules was having a hard time admitting that she didn't want to upset her mother by entering a competition that would coincide with her NEWTS was no reason to be unkind to Moira. This wasn't the only reason she had snapped, but Jules wasn't even ready to admit to herself that she was jealous that Moira seemed to be enjoying herself with Lee while Jules had spent the last week avoiding someone who had given her the snogging of her life. Nevertheless, she should go and apologise. A quick glance at her watch told her that Moira would probably still be at dinner. Jules had just finished packing up her bag when the gentle lull of conversation floated over to her from the table where Harry and the youngest Weasley were sat whispering with Hermione.

"We're up to thirty people now, we need to start thinking about creating more of the fake Galleons or we'll never get organised…" Harry was saying quietly. A hush fell over their table as they realised that Jules was within earshot. Jules offered them a breezy smile and hurried away, only half wondering what they were talking about.

Jules took the steps down the Great Hall two at a time and in her rush almost bowled over Fred and George Weasley as they made their way in the opposite direction "Watch yourself, Spencer!" Fred exclaimed. 

Jules leapt away from them as though she had been burnt "Sorry…" she muttered, going to push past them. George called after her.

"Oi! You're not going to find Moira, are you?"

Jules stopped and turned to face them, trying to make minimal eye contact with Fred "Um… yes, why?"

"You won't find her in the Great Hall; she left with Lee a while ago." George folded his arms and glared at her "Did she hypnotise our friend?"

"What? No! Did you see which way they went?" Jules's gaze flitted between them. She was sure she looked insane. Fred pointed up toward the Astronomy tower. Jules didn't wait for him to speak before hurrying off, her face burning. She was out of breath by the time she reached the Astronomy tower and as she clambered the steps she rehearsed her apology to Moira in her head. So engrossed in the proper contrite wording of it was she that Jules failed to consider what she might discover when she arrived.

Such as Lee and Moira kissing.


	7. Chapter 7

**October 19th, 1995**

Moira and Lee jumped away from each other as if they had been electrocuted. Jules stood frozen in the doorway, her mouth open and eyes wide. Her entire brain seemed to have short circuited and she was temporarily unable to form words.

They had seemingly been going at it for a while; their uniforms were dishevelled and there was a tell-tale smear of Moira's favourite lip gloss on Lee's chin. The three of them stood in a mortifying tableau for what seemed like an eternity before she found her voice.

"How long has this been going on?" Jules whispered, feeling her face heat up. Moira and Lee glanced at one another embarrassedly before seemingly becoming very interested in the floor "How long?" Jules asked again, louder this time. The room bristled with tension.

"Remember when you left practice early on Tuesday? You wanted to get back to the Gryffindor common room before…" Moira trailed off, gaze flitting up to Jules who suddenly understood what her friend was trying to say – that night, she had been busily trying to avoid accidentally meeting Fred coming back from Quidditch practice so she and Moira had agreed privately that Jules would fake a homework emergency and leave practice early. 

Lee frowned "Before what?"

"Nothing," Jules said hurriedly "So you two have been…" She gestured awkwardly at the empty air "Doing this since last Tuesday? And you didn't say anything? In fact," Jules's eyes widened as a thought struck her "You swore to me more than once that nothing was going on!"

Moira reddened slightly "I didn't know what to…" She whispered, her eyes darting over to Lee, who looked equally as humiliated "… I mean, I didn't know what was going on."

"Oh… _Oh._ " Jules cringed as she realised that she had inadvertently jumped several steps for Moira and Lee, skipping straight to the 'relationship' talk "I am so sorry. I… just came to apologise. For earlier." She cocked an eyebrow at the pair and smiled evilly "But now it looks like I also have to apologise for failing to knock."

Moira stared at her best friend for a moment before snorting with laughter. It wasn't long before Jules joined in and Lee was left, gaze shifting back and forth between the two of them as they giggled.

"Am I the only one here still feeling awkward?"

"Probably," Jules grinned "I'll leave you two alone again to preserve your dignity. Whatever's going on here is none of my business. Besides," Jules shrugged "Moira will tell me everything tomorrow anyway." She sent Moira a hopeful look "Are we... OK?"

Her best friend smiled "Always." 

After Jules had retreated, Lee turned to Moira "You're not really going to tell her everything that we've been doing... are you?"

Moira levelled her gaze at him "What have we been doing?"

Lee thrust his hands in his pockets and stared at his shoes "I… suppose we should probably talk about this, shouldn't we?"

X x X

**October 20th, 1995**

"You're going to Hogsmeade next weekend?" Jules stared at Moira incredulously "Together?"

Moira smiled coyly "Is that so wrong?" 

They had met between classes in the courtyard where it was pouring with rain to catch up. Jules had saved a cinnamon roll from breakfast which they were now sharing under the umbrella charm that Moira had cast to stop them from getting soaked. 

"Not wrong, just…" Jules wrinkled her brow "Weird, is all. I'm still getting used to the image of you two kissing. Especially since Lee's always been so vocal about Slytherin. Does that not bother you? That he hates Slytherins?"

Moira sighed and brushed a crumb from her skirt "Well… I mean, yes naturally it bothers me but I feel like the more we're around each other, the more he can see how stupid it is to make assumptions about other people without knowing them properly. He's not above admitting that he might have been wrong... I like that." They watched idly as some nervous looking First Years made the dash across the courtyard through the rain, squealing as they got wet.

Jules sniffed "Even so, I feel like you could be more outraged by how he's always behaved towards you. I mean, surely years of nasty remarks and treating you like a pariah can't just be erased over the course of a week, can they?"

Moira cocked an eyebrow at her friend "Are we still talking about me and Lee?"

Jules stared at Moira with wide eyes "Who else would we be talking about?"

"How about the redheaded miscreant who you've been avoiding like the plague since he kissed you last week?"

"Moira, I told you - I'm pretending that never happened. Besides, I'm only avoiding Fred because I don't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking I've gone all starry-eyed over him."

"How long are you going to keep pretending that you don't have even the tiniest crush on him?"

Jules rolled her eyes "I don't have to pretend because I don't have a crush on the snob who has spent years treating me as though I don't exist because of who my friends are. He kisses me on one occasion and all of a sudden I'm supposed to start following him around like a lovesick puppy? At least Lee went to the effort of getting to know you and confessing that he might have been wrong."

"Have you considered that Fred might be trying to get to know you and _you're_ the one being a snob?" Moira checked her watch and began to gather up her things "I have to go to Ancient Runes. Don't you have Herbology now?"

"You're just going to accuse me of snobbery and leave?"

"No," Moira grinned "I'm planting the idea in your head and leaving it to grow. Think about it. See you later!" she yelled with a flourish of her wand and all of a sudden Jules was left standing bemused and wet in the middle of the courtyard.

X x X

"Miss Spencer, that is the last time I will ask you to pay attention in my lesson! Honestly, this is most unlike you and you could not have picked a more inopportune time to be distracted." Professor Sprout looked out of breath as she dashed about attempting to supervise her students in their study of the Venomous Tentacula.

"Sorry, Professor…" Jules muttered as she ducked another vine, her goggles slightly askew on her head. The Professor was right; she couldn't have picked a worse time to have something on her mind but Jules couldn't help turning Moira's words over and over as she attempted to gather samples from the Tentacula.

Her friend couldn't possibly have been serious about Jules being a snob, could she? After all the years they had both spent as social outcasts, after all the times they had been ignored by their fellow students simply because they belonged to different houses but had chosen to be friends? Jules shook her head as if to dismiss the thought, but just as swiftly as it left another crept in. Maybe she wasn't a snob, but had she become too… hard? 

Was it possible that spending her formative years feeling judged and criticised had given her too thick a skin? Was she too ready to dismiss others because she thought that all she could expect from them was rejection? Or was she simply looking for ways that 'the tiniest crush' on Fred Weasley might be justified?

Oh God. She had a crush on Fred Weasley.

The realisation hit Jules like a herd of Hippogriffs and temporarily stunned her into failing to notice that a Tentacula vine had snuck up behind her and was busily winding its way around her throat. Jules gasped and struggled against it in her panic before an exasperated shout of "Diffindo!" reached her ears and Jules was released, collapsing to the floor to catch her breath as the vine holding her was severed. Professor Sprout marched over and hauled her up roughly by the elbows.

"Miss Spencer, what did I tell you about paying attention? Tentaculas are far too dangerous to only pay half a mind to! I'm sorry to do this, but a lack of concentration in my classroom on a day like today cannot be tolerated. I am going to have to give you a detention. Next Wednesday night, nine o' clock."

Jules cringed but nodded as she rubbed the tender part of her throat where the vine had choked her "Of course. I'm sorry Professor. It won't happen again." Professor Sprout gave her a sympathetic look.

"I don't doubt it dear. Run along and see if Madam Pomfrey will give you something for the bruising. I will see you in two nights' time."

X x X

"You can't possibly be serious." Fred and George stared at Lee aghast "The Slytherin Princess?"

Lee frowned "Yes, I'm serious. And you should probably stop calling her that." They were all crowded into George's bed with the curtains drawn whispering so as not to wake the other blokes in the dormitory.

Fred leaned forward and grabbed Lee's face in both hands "Are you feeling alright? George, don't you think he looks ill?" Fred began to paw at Lee's face, pretending to check his eyes and ears. Lee batted him away. 

George grinned evilly "I agree, Fred. Too sick to be allowed out on his own. I diagnose that he's been struck with some malevolent curse by the fearsome – if devastatingly attractive – Moira Paige."

Fred whipped his head around to look at his twin "You think Moira Paige is attractive?"

George shrugged "In an evil sort of way."

Lee rolled his eyes and jerked his head away "Stop it, you idiots. I like her. She's not evil; she's intelligent and funny as well as being – what was it you said? 'Devastatingly attractive'." Lee sighed a little too dreamily for Fred's liking "And she snogs like a pro!"

Fred shook his head disbelievingly "I can't believe I'm hearing this. You spend a few weeks in the company of Juliet Spencer and Moira Paige and you decide you fancy one of them!" As the words left his mouth, Fred knew that he had sounded somewhat unconvincing in his disdain. 

Lee arched an eyebrow "And I suppose you couldn't possibly fancy Juliet Spencer after spending this last week making eyes at her across the common room?"

"That's completely ridiculous – I object to such a slanderous allegation!" Fred scoffed, knowing all the while that he was exhibiting the trademark Weasley blush. George and Lee did their best to hide their snorts of laughter which only made Fred more defensive "I don't fancy Jules! Besides," he seized upon the one logical line of argument he could think of "I've barely seen her this week – how can I have been 'making eyes' at someone who isn't there?"

"So you've noticed when she's not there too, eh?" George grinned evilly "Face it, Gred. You've got the hots for a girl who hexed your feet to the floor!" he laughed "I knew something was up when you took that detention for her! How long have you been in love with Spencer then, brother mine?"

"Shut up," Fred said hotly "So what if I do fancy her? She hangs out with Slytherins!"

"A Slytherin," Lee corrected "And maybe she's got a point. Maybe it's time we all stopped thinking about 'us' and 'them'. It won't be like that out in the real world, will it?" He leaned forward to punch Fred gently on the shoulder "Why don't you ask her to Hogsmeade?"

Fred considered this for a moment "What do you think, Forge?"

"Aside from the fact that you'll probably murder each other? Let's be honest Freddie, even if she wasn't mates with someone from Slytherin, you don't exactly go together, do you? She's more of a bookish type like Granger. Never had a detention, never missed a deadline. Apart from putting an illegal charm on that muggle device, she’s a little goodie two shoes and you are her polar opposite. But," George sighed, settling back on his pillow "If that's what floats your boat, then I think you should go for it. I also think you should both get out of my bed so I can get some sleep." A clumsy kicking session ensued, resulting in both Lee and Fred nearly tumbling from the bed onto the floor. Snickering and rubbing shins, they finally conceded and returned to their own beds.

Fred lay awake for a long while, thinking about what his brother and his best friend had said: _'time we all stopped thinking about 'us' and 'them'…', 'You are her polar opposite…'._

 

Maybe it _was_ stupid to make enemies out of people without knowing them first. Merlin knew there were enough enemies without picking out more for themselves.

He sighed, throwing an arm up over his head in an attempt to get comfortable. What did that mean for someone like him and Juliet Spencer, then? If a Slytherin had agreed to go out with a Gryffindor (arguably a rare occurrence signalling a possible impending apocalypse), did that mean he might have a chance with her? Fred grimaced to himself as he realised that worrying about whether he might have a chance with a girl was an entirely alien feeling to him. Could he convince Jules to give him the time of day?

There was only one way to find out.

X X X


	8. Chapter 8

**October 22nd, 1995**

The common room was empty, save for a small group of Second Years playing Exploding Snap. Jules glared across at them as they shrieked when someone won a round "Could you keep it down please?" 

The younger children cowered and reduced their voices to whispers, occasionally glancing back over to the scary Seventh Year who had purposely ensconced herself in a chair by itself so that nobody would sit next to her. Jules knew that they were stealing looks at the fading bruises on her neck from the Tentacula. Madam Pomfrey had given her a salve to rub on each morning and night and the ugly marks were already beginning to fade, but not fast enough for Jules's liking. Her mother would probably have something a bit more powerful, but Jules didn’t want to risk having to explain how she got the bruises in the first place. 

She had come to Gryffindor Common Room for the first time in over a week, finally fed up with hiding in various empty classrooms or in her dormitory. Knowing it would only be a matter of time before the person she was avoiding arrived, Jules berated herself inwardly for allowing herself to become so tense over it. By the time he made his way through the portrait hole accompanied by his twin and Lee, she had succeeded in working herself into such a lather that she couldn't concentrate on the homework in front of her. They made their way across the common room and Jules fought the urge to retreat, digging her nails into her palm. She had to get past this. Fred, George and Lee selected a spot on the far side of the common room and settled into furtive conversation, talking intently about something.

Jules watched them from beneath her eyelashes for a moment, wondering with no small hope if perhaps they hadn't realised she was there. She stayed perfectly still for several minutes before allowing herself to relax slightly and attempt to refocus on her work. Just as she was regaining her sense of security and congratulating herself on not running back to her dorm, she became acutely aware of someone standing next to her.

"Spencer." Fred said her name quietly, as if he was half hoping she wouldn't hear him. Jules tried to still the butterflies in her stomach and act as nonchalant as possible, knowing all the while that the wild, skittish look in her eyes must be betraying her.

"Yes?" She squeaked, inwardly berating herself for letting him have this effect on her. Fred was not the sort to let such a thing pass, and she thought she saw a hint of a grin pass over his face before it was replaced by a frown.

"What happened to your neck?"

Jules's hands flew unconsciously to her battered throat "Had a run-in with a Venomous Tentacula."

Fred raised his eyebrows "Did you win?"

"Yes, if a detention for not paying attention to the dangerous piece of foliage counts as winning." Jules said bitterly. 

Fred laughed softly and they lapsed into awkward silence for a moment, the redhead seemingly having forgotten what he had come to talk to her about. Just as Jules opened her mouth to ask what it was he wanted, he blurted clumsily "Can we talk somewhere private?"

Jules felt her face redden and nodded. Why did he want to speak with her in private? She wasn't going to let him kiss her again, that was for sure. She would hex his feet to the floor again if he tried (Great, now she was thinking about kissing him). Fred jerked his head toward the portrait hole.

"Meet me down by the lake in fifteen minutes?" Jules absently checked her watch and opened her mouth to protest that it would be after curfew in ten. Fred seemed to read her mind "Don't worry about curfew - the prefects patrolling tonight owe me a favour."

Jules nodded mutely after a moment's hesitation. Fred responded with a bob of his own head before making a beeline for the exit. Was it her imagination, or did he look nervous? Jules glanced across the common room to where George and Lee were sitting trying not to look as if they were watching. They must have known why Fred had come to speak with her. They ducked their heads back to whatever depraved thing they were working on as soon as they saw Fred leave. Jules tried to go back to her textbook but succeeded only in reading the same sentence over and over, her eyes constantly drifting to her watch. A few more minutes and she should leave.

What could he possibly want to talk to her about? Something important enough to break curfew for, apparently. Jules bit back a bark of laughter as she envisaged Fred telling her that he liked her within thrashing distance of the Whomping Willow - the redhead was mad, but he wasn't stupid. 

Besides, unplanned kiss notwithstanding, they barely tolerated one another. Jules squirmed in her seat as she recalled the heatedness of their embrace once more, her insides tingling. The heat from the fire, which up until now had been just right, was making her feel flushed and a little sweaty.

Perhaps he wanted to ask her to keep what had happened in the Room of Requirement to herself. That made more sense – it was unlikely that Fred would want anyone to know that piece of information. They could go back to pretending the other didn't exist, save for the occasional sniping. Jules tried to ignore the pang of disappointment she felt at the prospect of this.

A further, even more paranoid thought snuck in: Why had he asked her to follow him instead of suggesting that they walk to the lake together? Jules felt her anger beginning to rise as she realised that he didn't want to be seen with her. He was embarrassed to be seen talking with the Traitor of Gryffindor so he had waited until the only people around were people who would forgive him such a transgression and then requested that she walk a few paces behind him at all times. Never in her life had Juliet Spencer walked behind someone like a serf. She threw her book down in fury and rose, stomping toward the portrait hole after him to give him a piece of her mind.

It hadn't quite been fifteen minutes, so Fred was still a way off from the lake when she caught up with him. Stepping into the cold November night without a scarf or jacket had only increased her anger and by the time she grabbed his arm and swung him around to face her, she was shaking with equal parts rage and cold.

"Ashamed to be seen with me, Weasley?" She hissed, eyes flashing. Fred took a step backwards, his hands raised in a gesture of supplication. 

"What? I don't know what you-"

"Making me follow behind so no one will know we're talking?" Jules spat, her breath rising in the air in front of her "I don't know why I'm surprised, but for Merlin's sake Fred, I know that all you want to do is ask me not to tell anyone we kissed – something you needn't worry about by the way because it's not as though it's anyone's business! Truly, this level of cloak-and-dagger secrecy is insulting and ridiculous!"

Fred stared at her open-mouthed, his hands still raised. He regarded her closely for a moment. It was getting dark and the sky was clear. There would be a freeze tonight. Jules glared back at him, the blazing fire in her eyes doing little to prevent her teeth from chattering. Finally, Fred dropped his hands and began to shrug out of his jacket, holding it out to her on the end of one finger.

"Here."

"I'm fine." Jules said stubbornly. 

Fred cocked an eyebrow "Come on, Spencer. I know that only half of that shivering can be attributed to fury."

Jules hoped the rapidly gathering night would hide the unexpected and uncontrollable smile that seized her lips. She reached for the jacket and placed it gingerly around her shoulders, catching the faint scent of Fred as she did so. They stood staring at one another for a brief moment before seemingly remembering why they were there. Jules felt her indignance rise once more "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to ask me to swear a blood oath that I won't tell a soul you kissed a social pariah like me?" Jules shifted awkwardly and pulled Fred's jacket tighter around her. She couldn't be sure in this light, but she thought she saw him blush. He dipped his head and kicked at the frozen ground before clearing his throat.

"That wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about, actually."

Jules felt her breath hitch in her throat "Oh?"

Fred shook his head. He glanced back up at the castle quickly before returning his gaze to her "We can't talk here."

"So you are embarrassed to be seen talking with me!" Jules snapped, turning to storm off. 

Fred sighed exasperatedly and made a grab for her arm "Spencer, would you stop assuming everything is about you? Merlin, you're as bad as my younger brother!"

"Then what is it you want to talk about? If you're not ashamed to be seen talking to me and you don't want to talk about-" Jules wracked her brain for any phrase that didn't include the word 'kiss' "-the other thing, then what?"

"It's too dangerous to talk out in the open like this, alright?" Fred lowered his voice "Please, will you just walk down to the lake where I know we can't be heard?"

The look in his eyes was pleading, and Jules could feel her resolve weakening - not to mention the fact that she was now mortified that she had been so mistaken in thinking he had wanted to talk to her about the kiss. _Of course that isn't what he wants to talk to you about, Jules. He'd probably forgotten all about it and kissed a dozen other girls by now. Congratulations for alerting him to the fact that it's pretty much all you've thought about for the last week though. Idiot._

Jules pursed her lips and nodded. Fred shot her a look of relieved gratitude and together they set off for the lake, falling tentatively into step with one another.

The lake at night was terrifying, an unforgiving black hole out of which one would never find their way. It was silent now, even the Merpeople having turned in once the light had gone. Fred led her to a quiet clearing that couldn't be seen from the castle. Jules found a tree to lean against and looked expectantly at Fred, who stood before her awkwardly, his hands thrust deep in his pockets.

"I was wondering if I could ask you about the Dittany you used on my hand."

Jules blinked. That had definitely not been what she had been expecting "What about it?"

"I had a go at brewing some of my own and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to make it as good as the stuff you used."

Jules frowned "You ran out of the supply I gave you already?"

"Not exactly..." Fred shifted awkwardly "I gave it to a couple of Third Years who had a detention with Umbridge yesterday. The evil toad has forbidden Madam Pomfrey from using it to treat any wounds inflicted by the blood quill and so I let them have the bottle you gave to me."

In spite of herself, Jules felt a surge of warmth toward him "That was kind of you."

Fred grinned "I'm a kind sort of person. Also, they were crying a lot. I don't like to see anyone crying."

"Unless you're the one making them cry, you mean?" It had been meant as a joke, but Jules saw immediately that she had gone a step too far. Fred's face hardened into a scowl.

"I'm a man who likes to level the playing field, Spencer - not a man who goes around giving people reasons to be sad. There's a difference."

_Unless of course that person doesn't conform to your narrow world view… like me._ Jules bit back a snarky reply and they glared at one another in the moonlight for a moment before she sighed and folded her arms "So you want to know if I'll get hold of some more Dittany for you?"

"Actually, I want to know why your Dittany is so much better than the stuff I've tried to brew myself. Is there something extra in it?"

Jules wrinkled her brow "I'm not completely sure. My mother brews her own healing potions and sometimes she does adjust the quantities slightly." she paused, her arms still folded "I suppose I could ask her for you. She might give me the recipe…"

Fred's face broke back into a grin "Thank you." A rustle from deeper within the forest caused them both to start and look around them in case they had been discovered. Once satisfied that they were still safe, Fred moved to stand opposite her "Truly, Spencer. It means a lot."

Jules shifted to lean with one shoulder against the tree. He was close enough now that she needed to lean her head back to look up at him "You must be expecting a lot of detentions with Umbridge if you're wanting a bulk supply." Was she dreaming, or did he look slightly uncomfortable?

"Can't be too prepared, Spencer. I think we both know it's unlikely I'll avoid another detention with her before the week is out, let alone my school career."

Jules allowed him a wry smile "That much we can agree on." Fred smiled back and for the brief moment their eyes met, it seemed as though they could allow themselves to be comfortable in each other’s presence. Jules broke first, her eyes drifting once more to the ground. Why did he make her so nervous? "We should probably get back."

Fred grinned down at her "Can't wait to get away from me, can you?"

Jules sputtered, a blush creeping up her neck "I – that's not what I-"

"Calm down, I'm only teasing you." Fred stepped away from her and moved to leave the clearing before stopping and turning back "You know, I actually thought _you_ didn't want anyone to know that I kissed you."

Jules stared at him "Did you?"

Fred nodded "I thought that was why you'd been sprinting in the other direction every time you saw me for the last week."

"I just didn't want you to think that I'd gotten the wrong idea - that I thought you, y'know…" Jules shrugged awkwardly "… _meant_ anything by it. It was just something that happened in the heat of the moment." She raised an eyebrow at him, trying not to show that inside she was shaking "Wasn't it?"

Fred was silent for a moment, watching her. He seemed to want to say something, but decided against it. He bobbed his head awkwardly "Yeah – yeah of course. Just one of those things. I'm glad you agree." He seemed to be talking very fast "Should we go?" he gestured back in the direction from where they had come.

They walked back to the castle in brittle silence, trying not to look directly at one another. Jules was extremely aware of Fred's jacket around her shoulders and barely waited until they were inside to shrug it off and shove it hastily back into his hands.

"Here," She muttered "Don't want people to start talking, do we?" Fred stared down at the jacket in his hands but stayed silent until they were almost at the Gryffindor portrait hole. Fred murmured the password and the door swung open. He stepped aside and raised his hand in an 'after you' gesture to Jules, who mumbled her thanks before going to clamber in. Before she could however, Fred reached out a hand to touch her arm.

"Spencer… You should know that anyone who would be ashamed of kissing you is an idiot." He murmured quietly.

Jules's arm tingled where he had touched her and she felt her heartbeat in her ears. She stared at him, unable to respond and Fred shrugged and laughed nervously "I'm just saying…"

Her throat had gone dry when he had caught her arm and so when she spoke her voice was hoarse and broken "I um- thanks." She croaked. They stood grinning awkwardly at one another for a minute more before a noise down the corridor gave them an excuse to hurry through the portrait hole and in opposite directions once they reached the common room, their eyes studiously trained on the floor.

X

"How did it go, Gred?" George barely allowed his brother to get through the door of their dormitory before bombarding him - first with questions, then with pillows "Oi! Did she agree to go out with you, or what?"

Fred shifted awkwardly as he sat on his bed "I didn't ask her."

"What? Are you telling me that Lee and I had to listen to you talk about Spencer all day before you finally get the stones to ask her to Hogsmeade and you didn't go through with it?" George glared at his twin "Words cannot express how disappointed I am in you, Freddie. I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave."

"It became pretty obvious quite early on that she doesn't feel the same, Forge." Fred muttered embarrassedly. 

George shot him a sympathetic look "I'm sorry, mate. Are you alright?"

Fred shrugged and gave a broad grin that didn't fully reach his eyes "I'll be fine. Who wants to go out with a bird who likes Slytherins anyway? Even if it is a Slytherin that Lee fancies."

"Too right."

"Would you two stop gossiping so the rest of us can sleep?" came the muffled and irritable yell from Lee's bed. Fred and George grinned evilly at one another before George drew the curtains of his own bed. Moments later, Fred could hear snoring. He changed into his pyjamas and as he drew back the covers, his eyes fell on the jacket he had given Jules to wear. Raising it, he inhaled deeply and smiled as the scent of jasmine and the ocean filled his senses.

This wasn't over.


	9. Chapter 9

**October 26th, 1995**

"Are you waiting for something?" Jules gave a start and turned to the irritated looking Sixth year standing behind her in the Owlery.

"Sorry?" she said confusedly, her breath rising in the air in front of her, clouding between her and the younger student.

"You've been standing at the window since I came in. Are you going to send that or can I get past? It's bloody freezing up here." The Ravenclaw gestured to Jules's hand. Jules looked down at the letter to her mother she was holding. She had spent ages writing it; she didn't want her request for her mother's recipe for Essence of Dittany to seem too suspicious. It didn't help that periodically she found herself drifting off into a distracted daydream. No prizes for guessing which ebullient redhead was waiting for her there every time, his irreverent grin firmly in place as he told her once more that anyone ashamed of kissing her was an idiot. The memory of Fred's touch had struck once more as she had entered the Owlery and Jules was embarrassed to admit that she wasn't completely sure how long she had been stood there, replaying their conversation from the night before for what had to be the hundredth time.

Jules stepped away from the window, mumbling an apology. The Ravenclaw pushed her glasses up her nose and seemed to be trying to withhold an eye-roll as she took Jules's place at the window "Thanks." She hurriedly affixed her post to a large Tawny Owl who looked as impatient and cold as she did and sent it on its way. Turning back from the window and stamping her feet to warm them back up, the Ravenclaw fixed her critical gaze once more on Jules. 

"Are you planning to stay up here much longer? Only you have icicles in your hair." 

Jules reached a hand up to feel the end of her ponytail which had indeed, frozen almost solid. She looked embarrassedly at the younger girl.

"I uh- I hadn't realised how long I had been standing there."

"No kidding." The Ravenclaw folded her arms. Despite being younger, she was taller than Jules by at least six inches with smooth porcelain skin, a pretty face and shoulder length fair hair "You looked like you were in a world of your own. I thought you might jump out of the window."

"Thanks for stopping me." Jules said acidly. 

The Ravenclaw shrugged, seemingly unoffended "It would have been quicker to push you. It might have been the only way I could have gotten my post sent in the next hundred years." Jules frowned as she tried to work out whether the girl was being serious or not. She wasn't smiling, but Jules had noticed that by and large, Ravenclaws tended toward a cool impassiveness that indicated that they had reached a higher plane of understanding. _Knowing_ was their smiling. The girl stared back at her.

"I was joking."

Jules cocked an eyebrow "Thank God."

"Seriously though - if I leave, you're not going to jump out of the window are you?" She gestured once more to the letter in Jules's hand "That's not a suicide note, is it?"

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Jules rolled her eyes "No, in spite of the fact that this conversation has left me feeling as though I would like to take my own life, you are quite safe to leave." The Ravenclaw blinked at her and Jules sighed. 

"I was also joking."

"Oh. It was quite funny." The girl gave Jules an appraising look "I'm Helena."

Jules couldn't help herself "Your name is Helena?"

Helena sighed and Jules realised that this was undoubtedly the millionth time the younger girl had been asked that question. She hurriedly attempted to correct her faux pas "Like in Shakespeare?" 

Helena gave Jules a look of surprised and grudging kudos "Yes. I'm Muggleborn so my parents had no idea about Helena Ravenclaw." 

Jules nodded "I'm Jules, which is short for Juliet,-"

"- Like in Shakespeare." Helena finished for her and the girls gave each other a knowing grin. Helena stepped away from the window "Well, I have to get to Charms so I'm just going to have to take your word for it that I won't be the last person to see you alive."

Jules snorted "I won't let you down." 

Helena gave her a nod and a brief wave before disappearing from the Owlery and Jules wondered if that conversation counted as making a new friend. She took her place at the window once more and began the business of attaching her letter to one of the school owls. Jules swore under her breath she struggled to keep the bird still – she had little affinity with animals, and as such during her early years at Hogwarts, trips to send a letter home via owl were often followed by trips to the Hospital Wing. After several small pecks, Jules glared at the back of the bird as it took off into the cold November air. She felt a pang of guilt as she remembered that her letter had failed to include the small fact that as of this week, her detention-free school career was no more. She thought it unlikely that Professor Sprout would think it necessary to write to Tabitha Spencer regarding the incident with the Tentacula so knew that at least for now, she was safe. But Jules hated lying to her mother and knew she would have to come clean eventually.

"Maybe when I go home for Summer," she muttered to herself absently, checking her watch and seeing that she was late for Arithmancy "I'll show her my NEWT marks and follow it up with 'By the way, I got a detention because I was thinking about a boy and a plant nearly killed me…'"

X

It was dark and the frost was already beginning to form by the time that Jules made her way to the Greenhouses for her detention with Professor Sprout. As she stomped across the grounds, Jules could see the glow of lights coming from the glass structure and hoped that this meant that she would at least be spending the evening in the warm. Professor Sprout was waiting for her with her usual friendly smile.

"I must confess I am still a little surprised at you, Miss Spencer. Unlike your partner for this evening, it's rather unusual for me to have to give you a detention."

Jules frowned "My partner, Professor?"

Professor Sprout selected two pairs of thick gloves from the cupboard and tossed one to her "Frederick Weasley will be joining you."

Jules felt her stomach plummet into her shoes and the colour drain from her face "Fred Weasley?"

"The very same." A jovial voice rang out behind her and Jules turned to see the grinning visage of the person who had seemingly taken up permanent residence in her mind of late. Her eyes drifted to his cheek where a small criss-cross of fresh scratches sat. The injury had done little to affect his mood however, and Fred stood before Jules and Professor Sprout with an enthused air about him "Good evening, Professor. It's been a long time since we had a detention together."

"It may disappoint you to know Mr Weasley, that you and I will not be serving this detention together and I'll thank you to keep your tone a little less casual when addressing a Professor." Professor Sprout tried to look stern, but the fond smile she gave Fred robbed her of any real disciplinary power. She threw him a pair of the thick gloves and as she turned back to the cupboard, Fred caught Jules's eye and winked. Jules felt her cheeks heat up and suddenly became very interested in her shoes. 

Fred moved to stand by Professor Sprout, holding his arms out to take the various pieces of equipment she was digging from the cupboard "You mean you won't be overseeing tonight's disciplinary proceedings, Professor?"

Professor Sprout straightened and sent him a grin "Don't sound too pleased, Mr Weasley. I have a meeting to attend tonight and although ordinarily I wouldn't let you within a hundred feet of the Greenhouses unsupervised, I am quite confident that Miss Spencer here can keep you under control. Isn't that right, Miss Spencer?"

Jules opened her mouth to protest but before she could, the professor held out a pair of ear defenders "You will be needing these." Dumbfounded, Jules took the defenders and Professor Sprout beckoned them both the follow her to the back of the Greenhouse where some of the more volatile plants were kept in separate enclosures.

"Tonight," She explained, gesturing to one of the enclosures "One of you will be attempting to soothe the adolescent Mandrakes in the east enclosure . Hagrid has been complaining that their night-time activities have been upsetting his Fire-Crabs and I must confess, their parties have gotten rather out of hand. Try and remember that although the cry of an adolescent Mandrake cannot kill you, it will result in a few weeks of deafness that neither of you can afford so close to your NEWTS. The other of you will be pruning the Wiggentree over there." She gestured to the magical Rowan tree which took up most of the back of the Greenhouse "Be sure not to disturb the Bowtruckles living in it – they have been rather irritable of late. I trust you can decide between yourselves which task to complete. I will be back to retrieve you and lock the Greenhouses at midnight." The Professor smiled warmly at both of them "Good luck." And with that, she was gone. 

Jules stared after the tiny woman as she strode away from the Greenhouses toward the castle. Nerves sending her stomach aflutter, she turned back to look at Fred, who was still smiling cheerfully.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?" She asked incredulously "How did you end up with a detention in a subject you don't even study?"

"My ability to attract disciplinary measures isn't limited to my own curriculum, Spencer." Fred grinned cheekily "Sometimes I just like to branch out. Keeps things interesting."

"What did you do?"

Fred shrugged "I may have released a few hundred Leaping Toadstools from their enclosure this morning during Umbridge's visit to the Greenhouse."

Jules stared at him in disbelief "You didn't." Fred only smirked at her "But why?"

The redhead shrugged "Maximum impact. It took nearly two hours to round them all up. Umbridge told Sprout that if I didn't receive appropriate discipline from the Herbology department, she would be only too happy to oblige. Professor Sprout has a soft spot for me, so…" he held up his hands in a 'What can I say?' sort of gesture.

"Is that where you got the...?" Jules gestured at the scratches on his cheek. He nodded and she raised her eyebrows "That was a lucky escape for you - I only sent my mother a letter about the Dittany this morning. Your hand would have been hanging off by the time it arrived if Umbridge had gotten hold of you again. Do you want the Mandrakes or the Bowtruckles?"

"Which are most likely to do my bidding?" Fred asked, then seeing Jules's glare he held up his hands "I'm joking!" He picked up the pruning shears that Professor Sprout had left them "I'll take the Bowtruckles if you don't mind. You'll look prettier in the ear defenders than I will."

Jules grimaced, picking up the ear defenders and placing them gingerly on her head whilst trying not to blush because he had called her pretty "Wish me luck." Her own voice sounded muffled. Fred gave her the thumbs up and she made her way toward the room where the Mandrakes were being kept. Stepping inside, she wished immediately that she had taken the Bowtruckles. A Mandrake party was in full swing; the room was heaving with the little blighters. Some were even swinging from the vines that were obscuring most of the ceiling. The pots they normally slept in were clustered on the trugg in front of her, some on their sides, the earth spilling out. It was chaos. Jules was suddenly reminded starkly of why she had avoided detentions during her time at Hogwarts and suddenly became disproportionately annoyed at the reason she had ended up breaking her six and a half year record. And what's more, that self-same reason for breaking said record was outside of this room most likely teaching Bowtruckles to retrieve sweets from the kitchens for him...

What was he doing here, anyway? Jules tried to push to the back of her mind the small fact that Fred had known that she would be in detention tonight. All he would have to do was get himself a detention with the same Professor on the same night and then they would be in each other's company for several hours...

No. That was ridiculous. Fred had merely been trying to get on Umbridge's nerves. Jules shook the thought from her head and began plucking the Mandrakes from their various perches and stuffing them forcefully back into their plant pots. They resisted heartily at first, and for the first few hours or so it was rather like trying to put an Octopus into a bag. Eventually, when the Mandrakes realised that Jules was unlikely to give up any time soon despite all the soil they had kicked into her face, they settled for sitting in their pots and howling, their faces sour and screwed up.

"I don't care if you don't like it." Jules knew she was speaking loudly in order to hear herself through the ear defenders "Go to sleep!" As she was saying the words, a sudden memory surfaced in her consciousness. Sitting with her father in front of the television - a muggle device that they only really used when her grandparents came at Christmas - watching Mary Poppins over and over again because Jules was fascinated by the way her muggle grandparents, who knew nothing of the wizarding world, happily submitted to watching the pretty dark-haired lady flying over London with her umbrella or jumping through the pavement to dance with penguins in a cafe. When she had asked her father why it was alright for Grandma and Grandad to see magic on the television when mummy had to hide her wand while they visited, he had smiled "You don't miss a thing, do you Juliet?" He explained that Mary Poppins wasn't really magic, but technology made to look like magic. It was what muggles imagined magic to look like.

As Jules had gotten older and started to understand magic better, she could see that the muggle interpretation of magic was deeply flawed and unrealistic. It didn't stop her from loving Mary Poppins and the memories of her father it evoked though. Right now, as she fought with the stubborn Mandrakes, she was reminded of the scene where the children wouldn't go to bed and, having exhausted all of her options including threatening them with a policeman, Mary Poppins simply sat back in her rocking chair with a curt 'Suit yourselves,' before crooning a lilting melody about trying to stay awake. Jules stared down at the Mandrakes, wondering if it was worth a try. They were after all, rather like toddlers. Opening her mouth hesitantly, hoping she could hold the tune with the ear defenders on, Jules began to sing:

_'Stay awake, don't rest your head_

_Don't lie down upon your bed_

_While the moon drifts in the skies_

_Stay awake, don't close your eyes…'  
_

The Mandrakes didn't seem to buy it at first, but one by one their tiny faces began to relax as they gave in to the melody. The howling stopped and Jules redoubled her efforts, even reaching out to tuck a few of them a little deeper into their pots as they nodded off.

_Though the world is fast asleep_

_Though your pillow's soft and deep_

_You're not sleepy as you seem_

_Stay awake, don't nod and dream_

_Stay awake, don't nod and dream...'_

Hardly able to believe her good fortune with something as simple as reverse psychology, Jules spent a moment staring at the snoozing Mandrakes before she became aware of a presence in the doorway behind her. She turned to see Fred standing there, a look on his face she had never seen before. He had always had an open, laughing expression, but this was different. The mischievous grin was gone and there was something unguarded about the way he was looking at her, something completely without guile. His eyes were dark and serious, like they had been that night in the common room. Jules didn't know how long he had been standing there watching her and the look on his face rendered her speechless enough that when he walked toward her and gently removed the ear defenders from her head, she was unable to ask him what in the name of Merlin he thought he was doing, just as when he cupped her face softly in his hands and brought his lips down to capture hers, she was unable to form the words to tell him that he couldn't just walk over and kiss her like that.

It was different to when he had kissed her in the Room of Requirement. That kiss had been fraught and fierce and full of unspoken aggression and fire. This kiss, although admittedly just as passionate, was slower and more complex. Jules felt herself melt against Fred's body as he pulled her closer to him, arms wrapping around her as though he was trying to envelope her completely, to hold as much of her as possible. His lips seemed to be whispering some sweet secret against hers and Jules couldn't help but sigh when he captured her bottom lip between his teeth, lightly grazing it before running the tip of his tongue gently across it, tentatively seeking access. She sighed again and he took the opportunity to delve into her mouth and taste her fully. Every touch, every kiss, every caress was intense, sending fireworks beneath Jules's skin. When Fred's hand moved across her hip, nimble fingers skimming across a patch of exposed skin where her shirt had ridden up, she whimpered against his lips and he pulled her even closer, his kisses gaining some of the primal urgency that they had had before.

The sound of footsteps coming toward the room caused them to break apart guiltily, their breath laboured. Jules reached up self-consciously to pat at her hair while Fred backed away to a respectable distance, his eyes a little glazed. By the time that Professor Sprout appeared in the doorway, both had managed to arrange their faces into masks of benign innocence. The professor beamed first at the slumbering Mandrakes and then at Jules.

“Well done!" She whispered, pleased but careful not to wake them. She beckoned Fred and Jules outside, where Jules saw that Fred had made a surprisingly good job of the Wiggentree. She could spot a few Bowtruckles hopping about the branches looking annoyed, but overall the result was good. She tried to keep her attention on Professor Sprout as she and Fred were congratulated on a successfully executed detention, but her mind continually drifted back to the position she had been in just moments before.

Eventually, Sprout bade them goodnight and sent them on their way. Fred and Jules left the greenhouse and began to walk back toward the castle. Jules was suddenly tense again, remembering his keenness to agree with her the night before that that first kiss had been heat-of-the-moment and purely accidental. That excuse probably wouldn't work again, she thought balefully as the tension continued to grow between them the longer they were silent.

"Are you angry?" Fred's voice broke through her thoughts and Jules started a little, looking over to see him staring at her.

"Do I... look angry?"

"You're frowning quite a lot." Fred observed neutrally. 

Jules sighed a little "I'm... trying to work out what just happened. I feel like I should be angry, but mostly I'm just confused."

Fred reached out and gently tugged on her arm to stop her walking. They stood facing each other in the middle of the grounds. The moon was high and huge, drenching everything in silvery light. Fred regarded her closely for a moment.

"I'm interested to know what's confusing you as I feel like it was pretty clear from where I was standing."

"OK then," Jules folded her arms "Why don't you explain it to me? Because from my perspective, I can't help but notice that you go and get yourself a detention with Sprout on the same night as me and then proceed to kiss me again without warning or preamble when I thought that we agreed that the first time we kissed didn't mean anything." She stared at him, too confused to continue any kind of charade “What am I supposed to think, Fred?"

"Forget what you're supposed to think - what do you _actually_ think?" He was giving her that look again - the one he had been giving her before he kissed her in the greenhouse. There was an openness about it, an unwillingness to pretend. Jules paused – was this, and not the grinning joker, Fred Weasley's true face? Was he much more serious than she initially gave him credit for? 

Jules shivered and wrapped her jacket tighter around her "I think... that you don't even like me. You've always been very clear about that. I don't think it's possible to change that on the strength of two good kisses. And I don't want to just... mess around." As she was saying the words, Jules was surprised by how deeply she felt them. How scared she was that someone like him might just use her and toss her aside.

Fred stared at her, his expression now pained "You think that's all I can do? 'Mess around'?" He sounded hurt "Jules, what else do I have to do to show you that I'm not messing around with you?" Jules opened her mouth to reply but he held up a hand to stop her.

"I got myself that detention because I thought it would give me a few hours to show you that I'm not a bad person and maybe after that you'd want to be around me a bit more. I didn't plan on kissing you tonight." He confessed awkwardly "I heard you singing to the Mandrakes and it was so amazing that I couldn't help it-" He stepped closer to her "I had to kiss you. It was skipping a few steps of the plan, but I still… meant it."

Jules stared at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. Her legs still felt like jelly from when he had kissed her, and now he was standing closer, she could see in vivid detail the constellation of freckles across his nose, the slight pout of his bottom lip. She swallowed hard and whispered "You… had a plan?"

Fred smiled slightly "Too right I had a plan. You don't court a lady of your calibre without a strategy, Spencer. Of course, I hadn't anticipated abandoning phases two, three and four of the plan in favour of kissing you simply because I couldn't stand not to any longer."

Jules felt her breath hitch in her throat "Oh." Was all she could manage. Fred Weasley had surprised her with his earnestness, his willingness to admit that he had feelings for her. One half of her was busy swooning over the raw romanticism of his words, while the other half couldn't help but try to pull away and construct a wall between them like she had done so many times before. She had spent too long feeling like an outcast for this to feel natural or good. She couldn't allow him to charm her this easily, could she?

Fred seemed to read her mind "But naturally," He said gently, reaching out to catch her hand and caress her palm softly with the tips of his fingers "That's no reason for me to assume that I won't have to work a little bit harder for you." Bringing her hand up to his lips he kissed it softly, his eyes never leaving hers "Let me take you out this weekend?"

Stunned by his ability to gauge what was worrying her as well as the warmth of his lips against the soft skin of the back of her hand, Jules felt her resolve begin to wither. Fred stared at her, waiting patiently for her answer. He seemed to glow in the moonlight.

Jules nodded.


End file.
